"Transparency to provide confidence." Namfrel secretary general Eric Alvia on #BeyondPolitcs emphasizes the importance of an open data project for #Halalan2019. #ANCRecap pic.twitter.com/MgvQROoU9v

— ABS-CBN News Channel (@ANCALERTS) April 23, 2019

MANILA - An election watchdog has called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to provide open election data for the 2019 midterm polls.

National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) secretary-general Eric Alvia said releasing election data for public consumption would allay fears of poll manipulation and would build confidence on the integrity of the election process.

"If you want to probably improve the process, or even assuage people of their fears that there's no wrongdoing going on, then you have to put out all the data. Even the transmission logs -- you've seen a lot of people coming out accusing, or even belittling the results, because some would say transmission has been going on prior to election day," he told ANC's "Beyond Politics."

"That's precisely what we're telling Comelec. If you put it out, you can easily defend yourself."

Some 18,000 positions are up for grabs in the May 13, 2019 elections.