Amid the deployment of an election observers mission to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the European Union’s Election Observation Mission (EU-EOM) assured that it is ready for even the “most challenging” situations to fulfill its goal of assessing the election process in the Philippines.

EU-EOM Deputy Chief Observer Manuel Sanchez de Nogues speaks to the Philippine media at the sendoff ceremony for the 10 teams of election observers in Makati City on April 16, 2025.  (Raymund Antonio/MANILA BULLETIN)

The EU-EOM has deployed an initial team of 72 observers across the country on Wednesday, April 16. By Election Day, EU-EOM Deputy Chief Observer Manuel Sanchez de Nogues said they’ll have around 200 election observers.
 

“We are going there with open eyes and to listen to everybody. We are used to work in a difficult environment, or environment such as we have worked in many, many countries in the world that we have experienced,” he shared.
 

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

Sanchez confirmed that a group of EU-EOM observers have already been deployed to BARMM and they will be based there until Election Day to monitor and observe the proceedings leading up and during the May 12, 2025 polls.
 

According to the Commission on Elections (Comelec), most areas at “serious risk” of poll-related violence are in BARMM, with 30 of the 38 areas with “red” election risk factors from the region.
 

Two are also found in Sulu, which used to be part of BARMM.
 

The self-determining region is set to hold its first-ever parliamentary election on May 12, the same time as the national midterm elections when Filipinos will vote for 12 seats in the Senate and fill up local government positions.
 

Sanchez assured that his team has made the necessary arrangements to ensure their security while in the country’s different regions, including election hotspots.
 

“We will have our own security. We have arrangements with the national police and the security forces in the country,” he said.
 

An assessment of the mission’s preliminary findings and conclusions will be presented publicly on May 14, or two days after Election Day, while a comprehensive final report will be presented two months after.
 

The preliminary findings, an EU-EOM statement said, “will outline initial findings and conclusions, and the extent to which the mission considers the election to have been conducted in line with Philippine laws, as well as with the international commitments to democratic elections the country has subscribed to.”
 

The comprehensive final report, on the other hand, will include “recommendations for the improvement of future elections.”
 

The Philippine government has invited the EU to observe the country’s election process. Observers came from EU member-states, but also included Canada, Norway, and Switzerland.
 

A delegation of members of the European Parliament will also be arriving in the Philippines to observe the voting, counting, and the tabulation of results.
 

The observers have been in the country since the end of March, with an initial group of 12 experts based in Manila.