With just a year since the last national election, Church groups in Bulacan province have already started looking at ensuring a free and fair vote in mid-term polls in 2013.

At a special pre-electoral summit at the weekend, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, the Catholic Women’s League, the Christian Ministers’ Council of Bulacan, as well as several other organizations, called for unity and vigilance.

Lawyer Sabino Mejarito, Bulacan province’s elections supervisor, said the event, which drew hundreds of people aimed to ensure a “clean, honest, accurate, orderly and peaceful election.”

In his address to the meeting, Commission on Elections chairman Sixto Brillantes said: “No poll can be credible and successful without the support and assistance of all election stakeholders.”