It calls for serious debate in the making of policies, and accountability in their implementation. As we Filipinos see it, the exercise of suffrage is the throne on which democracy sits. Without honest, orderly and peaceful elections which are credible to the people, there can be no hope for real democracy. Here in this conference, we have much to learn from one another in the design, organization and administration of election systems. And I will be the first to say that we have much to learn from you, just as you could learn from us.
Philippine elections are often highly contentious, free-wheeling and rambunctious exercises.
One political analyst remarked recently, in the light of early campaigning for the 1998 elections. That the longest season in the Philippines is not the rainy season, not the hot season but the election season. Because our electionsare what they are, we have, since 1940, consistently reinforced the independence and the powers of our commission on elections. It can suspend public works projects and prevent government expenditure including for personnel appointments and promotions, if it decides that such could influence electoral outcomes. The one indubitable fact about our electoral experienceis that elections produce the peaceful turnover of power from one administration to another.