GMANews.tv: RP Failed to Redeem Self from 2004 Scandal - Int’l Observers (tags)
The Philippine government failed to redeem itself from suspicions that it "benefited" from such illegal practices in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in 2004 with rampant irregularities "allowed" in the region in the May 14 midterm polls. This was the conclusion reached by the People's International Observers' Mission (IOM), whose members admitted they are now questioning their belief that the Philippines is a democratic country. "What were very obvious and undeniable was that the government failed to redeem itself from the wide belief that it benefited from these illegal practices in Lanao del Sur in particular and the entire Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao in general in 2004," IOM said. “The Commission on Elections (Comelec), by sins of commission and omission, presided yet again over abominably chaotic elections."