Cheating ‘hard to prove’ with 47% ratio claim, but we can ‘check’ — Comelec exec

MANILA, Philippines — Allegations of cheating will be “hard to prove” with claims of a supposedly consistent 47-percent ratio between votes for the top two presidential bets as raised by netizens online, an official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.

“Mahirap i-prove ‘yan ‘pag sinabi mong may cheating with regards to that percentage. Unang-una yung ating system natin, dumaan yan sa ating certification. So meron tayong local source code review, how can you insert such percentage na ipanalo yung kandidato, or matalo yung kandidato?” Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo Casquejo told reporters in a press briefing on Tuesday.

(If you say there’s cheating with regards to that percentage, that would be hard to prove. First of all, our system went through a certification. So we have a local source code review, how can you insert such a percentage to lead a candidate to victory or loss.)

“If they will insist, then pwede naman nating i-check yung [we can check] each election returns in each province,” he added.

This, after Casquejo was asked regarding online posts raising concern over an alleged consistency in the margin of votes between leading presidential candidate former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his rival, Vice President Leni Robredo in the first hours of vote transmission to the Comelec transparency server.

Based on the partial and unofficial count of the Comelec, Marcos is the presumptive presidential winner with over 31 million votes. He is followed by Robredo with more than 14.7 million votes.

Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo

Casquejo explained that the transparency server receives transmitted voters from various clustered precincts, regardless of province.

“In the first transmission that starts at 7 or 7:30, iba-ibang lugar po ito. Halo. Lahat ng clustered precincts in different locations magta-transmit papuntang transparency server,” he said.

(In the first transmission that starts at 7 or 7:30, this is from different places. It’s a mix. All clustered precincts in different locations will transmit from the transparency server.)

“Now, if you receive that result, then there will be something like a percentage lead, so most likely, ganoon na rin yung lead when it comes to completing all the transmissions. Na parang sinasabi natin, ‘Eto na yung lead’ when it reaches 70-percent or 60-percent transmission,” he added.

(Now, if you receive that result, then there will be something like a percentage lead, so most likely, ganoon na rin yung lead when it comes to completing all the transmissions. That we can say ‘This is the lead’ when it reaches 70-percent or 60-percent transmission.)

While Casquejo found no irregularities with the 47-percent ration claims, he said Comelec can make a “check.”

“Wala po tayong sinasabi na nagkaroon ng dayaan dito [We are not saying there was cheating],” he said.

“If you still insist, we can still check the election returns. Meron naman tayong election returns. We can do our own quick count and then we can demand or ask for the voters’ receipt, tina-transmit din po kasi ‘yan sa ating transparency server,” he added.

(If you still insist, we can still check the election returns. We have election returns. We can do our own quick count and then we can demand or ask for the voters’ receipt, those are also transmitted to the transparency server.)

/MUF