Big batch of EU poll watchers here for midterms, also eyes BARRM (2025)

MANILA, Philippines — Hundreds of election observers from the European Union are expected to be deployed in the country for the entirety of the 2025 midterms here amidst the backdrop of a vibrant campaign period and isolated outbursts of poll-related violence.

The EU’s election observation mission (EOM) includes more than 200 observers from the union’s member states. The government invited them to the May 12 elections.

First time

For the first time, the EOM will observe the accuracy, security, and transparency of the voting, counting, and tabulation of the automated counting machines and campaign activities of candidates, among others, according to Deputy Chief Observer Manuel Sanchezde Nogues.

The Spanish official said they will publish their assessment two days after election day or on May 14.

The EU said itsEOM’s core team of 11 analysts arrived here in Manila at the end of March before the deployment of 72 long-term observers on Wednesday. The long-term observers are tasked to send their reports to the Manila-based core team.

Later on, they will be joined by more than a hundred short-term election observers in the coming weeks, Sanchezde Nogues said.

READ: Comelec control in Abra town mulled after poll-related shooting

He said the 72 observers are now traveling by 36 teams in 18 regions nationwide, with some having more than one team who will observe the election proceedings there.

“It’s first time that a huge European Union election observation mission [goes here], so we are very excited,” said Lithuanian poll observer Ricardas Ramoska in an interview.

Ramoska, along with his German teammate Natalie Krieger, are assigned to oversee the poll process in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), whose Lagangilang town in Abra witnessed a recent fatal election related-violence.

Krieger said their long-time stay in CAR “allows us to have a good impression of the electoral process.”

BARMM risks

Sanchezde Nogues said a team of long-term observers is also on their way to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), which also saw incidents of election-related violence.

But he said the team is prepared for any risks.

“We are used to working in difficult environments; we have observed elections in many, many countries in the world and we have experience,” Sanchezde Nogues said.

“And based on the experience we have learned from other countries from other missions, we will be able to observe elections even in the most challenging situations,”he added.

Two BARMM towns are under the direct control of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), making the poll body a de facto local government unit in charge of those areas.

Last month, a Comelec official and her husband were killed in Maguindanao del Norte’s Datu Odin Sinsuat town.

The provincial capital of Maguindanao del Sur also saw the ambush of its reelectionist First District Board Member Datu Baba Omar last Sunday.

Sanchezde Nogues said the team has its own security team, which augments the local police and military force tasked to secure their contingent.

“We’re going there with open eyes and to listen to everybody,” he said.