Viral video of pre-shaded ballots draws Palace concern

HAND ON DECK A Commission on Elections staff member on Thursday sifts through election documents in her corner at the
Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City. Days after the May 13 midterm elections, the poll body is still being asked
to deal with complaints about allegedly preshaded ballots and malfunctioning vote counting machines. —LYN RILLON

Malacañang on Thursday urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to investigate reports that preshaded ballots were used in Monday’s midterm elections in Lanao del Sur province.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Comelec should do the investigation because the reports involved an electoral matter that only the poll body could handle.

“The Comelec should investigate that. That’s the Comelec, that’s their turf. We cannot interfere in that,” he said.

Video on Facebook

Panelo spoke after a video showing women shading the ovals on ballots that were used in the elections in Lanao del Sur went viral on Facebook.

The Comelec said it was investigating the video and seeking outside help.

“I’m asking for help investigating both this video and the content it shows,” James Jimenez, spokesperson for the Comelec, tweeted on Thursday.

Jimenez said the investigation was difficult because of the paucity of information about the video.

File complaint

“Notice how little information we have about the video,” he said. “We don’t know who uploaded it; we don’t know for certain when it was uploaded; no idea who the persons are; we don’t know where the video was shot, etc. These are what we need help with.”

Jimenez urged the uploader of the video to come forward and file a complaint with the Comelec.

“We encourage whoever has information on the video to come forward and file a complaint. If it’s the original uploader themselves, so much the better,” he said.

He said the scope of the activity shown in the video needed to be determined, whether it was limited to a certain place and what part of the elections it had affected.

“But it’s hard to imagine that it affected the entire Philippines,” Jimenez said.

He said the Comelec would ask Facebook and the appropriate authorities for assistance, particularly in the forensic analysis of the video.

Jimenez said the Comelec was not dismissing the video as a fake.

It doesn’t prove anything

But he also urged the public not to jump into conclusions, saying the video does not provide basic details.

“Obviously, there is nothing in the video that proves anything except that whatever is being shown is being done. But there is no context to it,” Jimenez said.

“It’s important to establish first the authenticity of the video as well as the accuracy of the claims being attached to the video,” he said.

The video was uploaded by the group Youth Act Now Against Tyranny on Wednesday.

The Inquirer tried to reach the group on Thursday, but the number it gave on its Facebook page could not be reached.

As of 5 p.m. on Thursday, the post had already drawn 1,400 reactions and 3,300 shares.

On its web page, Youth Act Now Against Tyranny described itself as an “alliance of student councils, student publications, national youth and student organizations, community-based youth, young professionals, artists and prominent youth leaders, and [people] advocating to end corruption and fight for accountability.”

In the past, the group criticized President Benigno Aquino III.

‘Devastating storm’

In a post on Facebook on Monday, the group warned the public to “brace for a devastating storm,” referring to “massive electoral fraud and rampant cheating.”

It said votes in the elections were bought for P1,000 to P15,000.

On Friday, the group will join a march from Morayta Street in Manila to the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City where the Comelec is counting the votes in the senatorial race. —REPORTS FROM JULIE M. AURELIO, TINA G. SANTOS, AIE BALAGTAS SEE AND CONSUELO MARQUEZ