17 November 2014 - Philippine Ambassador to Mexico Catalino R. Dilem, Jr. met with COMELEC Commissioner Al A. Parreño in the course of the latter’s participation at the First International Specialized Course on the Use of Technology in the Electoral Process (Curso Internacional Especializado:  El Uso de la Tecnología en el Proceso Electoral) held in Mexico City from November 10 to 14.

Ambassador Dilem personally conveyed his warm greetings to Commissioner Parreño during the event’s opening session held on November 10 at the installations of the Instituto Nacional Electoral, the COMELEC’s counterpart institution in Mexico. The Ambassador also personally congratulated Commissioner Parreño after delivering a presentation on the Philippine experience with electronic voting at an event session held on November 12.  A lawyer with specialization in project management for legal technology, Commissioner Parreño pioneered the field of electronic data discovery and evidence review in the Philippines.

The abovementioned International Specialized Course was hosted by Mexico’s Instituto Nacional Electoral in cooperation with the Community of Democracies, an inter-governmental organization that works for the strengthening of democratic ideals and institutions around the world.

Held pursuant to the framework proposed by the Working Group on Elections of the Community of Democracies, which is co-chaired by Mexico and the Philippines, the event aims to support countries in democratic transition and consolidation and to exchange knowledge and experiences on the benefits  and challenges  in the use of new technologies to enhance the credibility of the electoral process.

Some 26 specialists in electoral registration, electoral voting, counting and transmission of results from 15 countries participated in the event. END