The Palacio del Gobernador in Intramuros houses the national offices of the Comelec. Photo grabbed from |d|e|x|'s Flickr photostream.

Independent poll watchdog Kontra Daya has called on citizens to join a “Jericho March” on April 22 that will go to and around the Commission on Elections office in Intramuros, Manila.

Activist priest Fr. Joe Dizon, a convenor of Kontra Daya, said that the “Jericho March” spearheaded by religious groups will denounce “a grand design to make the elections fail.”

“The ‘Jericho March’ will be an expression of the kind of vigilance that we are urging the people to exercise, especially when worst-case scenarios like a failure of elections takes place,” said Fr. Dizon

“It will be a practice run for actions that we may have to stage after the elections,” he added.

Kontra Daya has urged the public to remain vigilant against any attempt to cause a failure of the elections and subsequently the perpetuation of the Arroyo regime in power.

Kontra Daya convenors Fr. Joe Dizon, Sr. Mary John Mananzan OSB and director Bibeth Orteza lead members in a march to the Comelec. Photo grabbed from Kontra Daya.

Independent poll watchdog Kontra Daya recently published a list of nominees of 112 partylist groups running in the May 10, 2010 elections, asking the public to send information about the links of any of them to the government.

Partylist group Bayan Muna has earlier assailed presidential son and Lakas-Kampi Rep. Mikey Arroyo’s nomination as partylist representative of Ang Galing Pinoy, as well as the latter. Bayan Muna claims AGP copied its constitution and other basic party documents “word-for-word”.

Alleged government partylists in the May 10 elections

Here meanwhile is a list coming from the Commission on Elections. If you know of any of these partylist groups and nominees who are supposedly identified with the Arroyo administration or funded or organized by government, please leave a comment.

Comelec list of partylist groups and nominees

Leading the list is Ang Galing Pinoy, formerly named “Guardians Anti-Crime Pro-People Organization”, whose first nominee is presidential son and Pampanga Representative Mikey Arroyo.

Activist partylist Bayan Muna yesterday accused Ang Galing Pinoy of copying its constitution “word-for-word”.

Here is the list from Kontra Daya:

Initial List of Party Lists With Links to the Arroyo Admin Strati on 1

During the launch, the watchdog group will report on the Comelec’s field tests of the PCOS machines and the recent mock polls, rate the Comelec’s preparedness for the e-voting, and bare a plan of action for the next few months leading to May 10, 2010.

Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz, activist priest Fr. Joe Dizon, Grace Poe-Llamanzares and director Bibeth Orteza signed the invitation to the Kontra Daya launch.

Kontra Daya 2010 is a network of church leaders, members of the academe, professionals, IT experts, activists, youth and other concerned citizens to address concerns on the automated election system, political repression, use by the incumbents of government resources, and various maneuvers of the Arroyo administration to stay in power.

It recommends another round of mock polls, citing questions on the conduct and outcome of the exercise.  Click here to get a summary of Kontra Daya field reports on today’s mock polls.

In a separate statement, Kontra Daya said that the allotted time for voting, which is 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, may not be enough to accommodate 1,000 voters per precinct.

Kontra Daya also made available photos they have taken of the Comelec exercise:

• New Era Elementary School, Quezon City
  
• Maharlika Village, Taguig City