Even without the accreditation by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) said Friday that they will still do its part to watch the 2010 automated elections.

Teaming up with the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines-National Secretariat for Social Action-Justice and Peace (CBCP-NASSA), Namfrel will proceed with the role of Bantay ng Bayan which does not require Comelec accreditation.

Namfrel National Chairman Jose Cuisia Jr. said they are quite disappointed with Comelec not acting on their motion for reconsideration and has pulled out their request for accreditation. “It is obvious that they are not interested on us giving them assistance.”

Namfrel filed a petition for accreditation last Dec. 4, 2009 but was rejected by Comelec in January of this year. However, the former filed a motion for reconsideration last Feb. 1, 2010 but no response of rejection or any action given by the latter.

The Comelec has only accredited the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) as its official watchdog in the May 2010 elections.

Namfrel is accepting volunteers for their Bantay ng Bayan project. Over 3,200 individuals are needed to fill in the buddy system that will be deployed by provincial coordinators in 80 provinces all over the  country.

The group welcomes the youth sector who can work on various tasks such as interviewing voters or study the election documents that will be gathered and reported before, during and after the elections.

The Bantay ng Bayan will be conducting reports five times before the election (March 12 and 18, April 15 and 30, and May 8), and twice during May 10 (at 12:00 noon and 8:00 p.m.). There will also be post-election reports that will be held on May 13 and June 30.