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MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo, who is seeking the highest post in the land, and her running mate Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan expressed alarm on Tuesday over the reported hacking of the servers of Commission on Elections (Comelec).
“We are alarmed by the news of an alleged hacking of Comelec servers. We ask Comelec to immediately confirm if it happened and the extent of the compromise involved,” the tandem said in a joint statement.
The Manila Bulletin on Monday reported that hackers were allegedly able to breach the servers of Comelec and purportedly stole files including usernames and personal identification numbers of vote-counting machines.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez, however, said those information do not exist yet in the poll body’s systems because these files have not been completed yet.
Jimenez, nevertheless, said the Comelec is still validating the alleged data breach.
“We ask the Commission to immediately take steps to ensure that this, or any other similar incident would not affect the integrity of the May 2022 elections,” said Pangilinan and Robredo.
“The welfare of the people, more than the candidates, is paramount. This election is for their future and they should not have any doubt about the process and its result,” they added.