PPCRV starts checking transparency server’s audit logs

PPCRV chair Myla Villanueva PHOTO by Gabriel Pabico Lalu/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) has started checking the computer logs of the transparency server for any possible irregularity during the eight-hour glitch from 6:00 p.m. on Monday up to 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

PPCRV chair Myla Villanueva said in an interview Friday that they are looking at three specific issues in the logs given by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

“Titignan po natin after 6:15 ng gabi ng May 13, pumapasok ba talaga ang datos na nanggagaling sa mga VCMs (vote counting machines)?” Villanueva told reporters inside PPCRV’s command center at the Pope Pius XII Center in Manila.

(We will look at the logs from 6:15 p.m. on May 13. Is the data from the VCMs coming in?)

“Titignan po natin kung kumpleto ang mga datos na ‘yan from 6:15 hanggang nag-up ulit ang mga tally board nang 1:00 in the morning,” she added.

(We will determine if the data sent from 6:15 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. is complete.)

Villanueva said PPCRV’s IT teams will also identify the root cause of the non-transmittal of results, and check whether the data given to the PPCRV and its media partners are complete and accurate.

“Ang pangalawa po nating titignan ay kung ano ba talaga ang nangyari at namatay po ang tally boards natin, hindi nakatanggap ng information. So nandyan din po ‘yan sa logs na sinusuri natin ngayon,” she explained.

(The second thing we need to look at is what really happened from the time the tally board went silent and failed to receive information. That is why we are analyzing the logs.)

“Ang pangatlo po ay titignan naman natin kung kumpleto ba ang data ng transparency server, at gagawin po ‘yon kung na-receive na natin ang data from the central server,” she added.

(Third, we will check if the data is transmitted to the transparency server and we will do that if we already receive the data from the central server.)

After most voting areas closed last 6:00 p.m. on Monday, the PPCRV transparency server showed votes from 0.38 percent of all polling precincts nationwide. However, it stopped for around seven hours, until the next update at around 2:00 p.m., which already comprised more than 90 percent of the precincts.

Netizens who were monitoring the quick count lamented how ironic it was that the transparency server did not show the progression of votes.

READ: Comelec transparency server glitch delays release of partial poll results

READ: Comelec blames ‘bottleneck’ for 7-hour server delay

On Wednesday, PPCRV requested the data logs from Comelec to clear any speculations on alleged fraud. With the logs, it said it can match the data to the results on the transparency server. The request was granted by the poll body on Thursday afternoon. (Editor: Eden Estopace)

READ: PPCRV sends request to access Comelec’s central server data

READ: Comelec grants PPCRV request for transparency server’s audit logs