Organized by the Ateneo School of Government (ASOG), together with the La Salle Institute of Governance (LSIG), the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), the Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services (IDEALS), and the Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO), Political Participation for Greater Electoral Integrity, publicly known as PARTICIPATE, is a consortium dedicated to engage and empower the political participation of the Filipino people.
In the past two and a half years, PARTICIPATE was guided by three objectives: strengthen citizen oversight in the electoral process, increase the availability and accessibility of information to promote informed voting, and support constituency-building for electoral reforms.
Achieving these objectives has not been easy, but it was made possible because of the commitment of the consortium to work together, support each other, and amplify one another. Their openness to collaborate made the consortium of five distinct institutions grow to become a coalition of more than 3,000 member organizations and network organizations nationwide.
Each output of the consortium and, by extension, of the coalition was illustrated by a theory of change that leads to an inclusive, deliberative, and participative democracy.
Robust institutions for political participation and reforms
National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL)
Provided support by observing the election processes for the March 2021 Palawan plebiscite, the 2022 National and Local Elections, the 2022 Maguindanao Plebiscite, and three rounds of voter registration
Issued recommendations in COVID-proofing the 2022 national and local elections which they presented during hearings at the Senate and House of Representatives
Proposed the conduct of hybrid elections, combining physical and online voting, since the elections were held when the country experienced consecutive coronavirus (COVID-19) case surges due to mutations and other sub-variants of COVID-19
Published eight out of initially identified 11 data sets, plus additional information on the Comelec election calendar, Comelec procurement, relevant resolutions, and NAMFREL-produced content, on their Open Election Data website which made the information accessible to the voting population
Ateneo School of Government and Caucus of Development NGO Networks
Grew the coalition to more than 3,000 member organizations and network organizations which supported the three unity statements on electoral and political activities to ensure that the elections are inclusive, safe, fair, and free to all
La Salle Institute of Governance
Published ten (10) policy briefs which became an instrument for those entities pushing for electoral reforms to engage the academe and researchers to delve in election-related topics and increase their interests to make electoral reforms and election as the subject of their studies
Empowered and engaged citizens
Ateneo School of Government
Organized more than 31 universities and colleges to be part of the academic consortium for non-partisan, objective, and data-driven initiative which maximized the presence of PARTICIPATE in different universities and enabled them to establish an academe-based network
Gathered more than 23,223 respondents for the Pinoy Voters’ Vibe: Youth Edition which enabled the voters, particularly the youth, to communicate their voice and vote through the conduct of the consolidated survey
Published eleven (11) working papers and two (2) peer-reviewed journal articles that gained media attention through the press releases and narratives of the survey results
Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services
Launched Action for Electoral Reform and Transparency (ALERTayo) that influenced the lobbying activities of PARTICIPATE and increased the engagements especially on the public statements released pushing for electoral reform
Competitive elections and greater accountability in leadership selection
Ateneo School of Government
Released information, education, and communication (IEC) materials integrated with news elements and evidence-based research on various issues surrounding the campaign and voting in the country as well as local language use in vote-rich cities and provinces that led to more than 14 million social media users engaging and supporting PARTICIPATE initiatives
Used both quantitative and qualitative research to create more evidence-based materials which resulted in more engaged social media users especially in highly political polarized areas
Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services
Engaged COMELEC, Senate, and the House of Representatives to support the 13 bills advocating for good governance, anti-corruption, electoral reform, and political participation
Gathered data showing the sustained interest of legislators to propose policies that assure representation of different sectors, uphold the rule of law, and encourage political engagement.
Democratic governance strengthened
National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL)
Closely coordinated with the Commission on Elections during the 2022 NLE election cycle; provided citizen oversight of the different election processes during the entire cycle, including the procurement and bid of goods and services for the conduct of the automated election system, and participation in AES-related activities such as source code review and final testing and sealing of vote counting machines
Ateneo School of Government
Engaged the Commission on Elections through various activities which led to their recognition as a partner on political and electoral reforms
Supported emerging leaders in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to ensure that the BARMM leadership is ready to meet its mission, vision, and contribution to the national goals and objectives
La Salle Institute of Governance
Conducted multiple youth caravans that factored in inclusion and participation of youth in political and electoral processes and led to the realization of the youth in their role in nation-building and their participation in the elections that contributes to a vibrant democracy
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