The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) is a non-partisan, non-sectarian

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

affiliated with the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

that works to ensure free, fair and fraud-free elections in the Philippines. The organization has been the "citizens' arm" of the Commission of Elections since 2010. PPCRV conducts the Unofficial Parallel Count of returns after the election. PPCRV's activity includes advocating for electoral reforms, conducting parallel manual auditing in automated elections, coordinating parishes to conduct poll-watching, providing legal assistance related to elections, reporting of electoral violations, providing voters' assistance services, and voters' education.

History

The Roman Catholic Second Plenary Council of the Philippines, held in February 1991, called for reforms in the conduct of elections in the Philippines. In May 1991,

Jaime Cardinal Sin Jaime Lachica Sin ( zh, t=辛海梅, 辛海棉, poj=Sin Hái-mûi, Sin Hái-mî; August 31, 1928 – June 21, 2005), commonly and formally known as Jaime Cardinal Sin, was the 30th Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila and the third cardinal fro ...

, D.D., Archbishop of Manila,

Commission on Elections (Philippines) The Commission on Elections ( fil, Komisyon sa Halalan), abbreviated as , is one of the three constitutional commissions of the Philippines. Its principal role is to enforce all laws and regulations relative to the conduct of elections in the P ...

Commissioner Haydee Yorac, then-Laity President Henrietta T. de Villa, Most Rev. Gabriel Reyes, D.D., Rev. Msgr. Bayani Valenzuela, and thirty parish lay leaders conceived of the idea of the PPCRV in

Mandaluyong Mandaluyong, officially the City of Mandaluyong ( fil, Lungsod ng Mandaluyong), is a first class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to ...

. In October 1991, the PPCRV was launched at St. Paul University,

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

, with around one thousand laypeople from the parishes of the

Archdiocese of Manila In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. The next month, with the support of the

Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines; ceb, Hugpong sa mga Obispo nga Katoliko sa Pilipinas; bcl, Komperensya kan mga Obispo Katoliko kan Pilipinas; hil, Komperensya sang mga Obispo Katoliko sang Pilipinas; ilo, Kumperensya ti ...

, the PPCRV expanded its operations nationwide. PPCRV's poll-watching activities began with the 1992 presidential elections. Then, 346,688 PPCRV volunteers participated in poll-watching, voters’ assistance, assisting the Board of Election Inspectors, protecting election returns, monitoring electoral exercise, and watching the canvassing of votes.

Relation with COMELEC

In April 2013, PPCRV was accused by the Archbishop of Lipa

Ramon Arguelles Ramón Cabrera Argüelles, D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University ...

of being a COMELEC lapdog since the conduct of the 2010 general elections, an allegation that the chairperson of PPCRV, Henrietta T. de Villa, disputes. The organization has been a "citizens arm" of the Commission of Elections since 2010.PPCRV's Henrietta T. de Villa responds to allegations the org is acting as COMELEC lapdog
ABS-CBN News Channel. Retrieved 21 May 2013 In 2010, it had objected to the

National Movement for Free Elections The National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections or NAMFREL is an election watchdog in the Philippines. It was the first and one of the most famous election watch campaigns. It is known to have introduced non-partisan national election monitor ...

' (NAMFREL) application as a citizen's arm of COMELEC, stating that a dual system would interfere with election watch. NAMFREL had never objected to PPCRV's applications as a citizen arm in previous elections. The feud seems to be over as both parties were accredited by COMELEC for the 2013 midterm elections and agreed on their respective functions.PPCRV now in 'kissing mode' with Namfrel
ABS-CBN News Channel. Retrieved 21 May 2013

References

{{Authority control Elections in the Philippines Election and voting-related organizations Non-profit organizations based in the Philippines Organizations established in 1991 1991 establishments in the Philippines