Ka Leody wants full transparency from Comelec amid alleged hacking

FILE PHOTO: Labor leader Leody de Guzman, chair of the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino. (Photo from his Facebook account)

MANILA, Philippines — Labor leader Leody de Guzman, who is running for president in the May 2022 elections, called for full transparency from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday in the wake of hacking allegations.

“Nanawagan ako sa Comelec ng full transparency at ilabas sa publiko ang lahat ng detalye ng mga nakumpromisong inpormasyon at papaano ito nangyari kahit na ginagarantiyahan ito ng mismong Comelec at pribadong kumpanyang Pro V&V,” he said in a statement through Twitter.

(I call on the Comelec for full transparency and to release to the public all the details of the compromised information and how it happened even though it was guaranteed by the Comelec itself and private company Pro V&V.)

He then urged the poll body to strengthen their security system ahead of the upcoming elections.

“Tandaan natin na hindi ito ang unang pagkakataon nangyari ito mula nung nagshift tayo sa automated elections,” he added.

(Let us remember that this is not the first time this has happened since we shifted to automated elections.)

This came after a report from the Manila Bulletin claimed that the poll body’s systems have been hacked and compromised which led to files being stolen, including usernames and PINS of vote-counting machines (VCM).

The Comelec, however, questioned this, with Comelec spokesman James Jimenez stating that this allegedly stolen information does not exist yet in Comelec’s systems.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rowena Guanzon also denied the incident, tagging the report as “fake news.”

Comelec then assured the public of its “full and scrupulous compliance with the Data Privacy Act, as well as its continuing cooperation with the National Privacy Commission.”

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JPV