Commission on Elections Chair Andres Bautista tries out a countingmachine stored in
a Comelec warehouse in Sta. Rosa, Laguna province, during a walk-through. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA/ INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
The camp of Senators Grace Poe and Francis “Chiz” Escudero is pushing the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to hold a dialog with stakeholders to discuss the status of the May 9 polls preparations amid negative reports on the results of the initial testing of the vote-counting machines (VCMs) and the reported possible postponements of the elections in some parts of the country.
Such dialog would address concerns over glitches in the VCM system, as well as other poll-related issues that might hurt the credibility of the electoral exercise, said the election lawyer of the Poe-Escudero tandem, George Garcia in a letter to the Comelec en banc dated February 11, 2016.
“The foregoing appeal is interposed purposely to dispel said negative reports and to affirm that the Comelec is doing its best to ensure that the forthcoming election will be free from technological glitches and other similar irregularities,” Garcia said.
The lawyer expressed hope that the poll body would grant his request “considering that the same are in line with the ‘clean, honest and orderly election’ campaign of the Comelec.”
Garcia said he was particularly concerned about the statement made by a representative from international certifier SLI Global Solutions that 1 or 2 percent of ballots were rejected by VCMs during a ballot verification testing held at the Comelec’s storage facility in Laguna earlier this week.
“Unfortunately, the result of such testing are hounded by undesirable feedbacks such as but not limited to, failure of the VCMs to recognize ballots, failure of the VCMs to count the votes, and the fact that the report of SLI Global Solutions, which was tasked to conduct the required review and certification, the source code is unavailable for inspection,” he said.
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Garcia said he also found it “quite alarming” that barely three months before the elections, the poll body’s Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) has yet to issue a certification or report required under Republic Act No. 9369, otherwise known as An Act Amending R.A. 8436 or the Election Modernization Act of 1997.
He said Section 11 of said law provides that “not later than three months before the date of the electoral exercise” the TEC shall have successfully conducted a field testing process; completed audit on the accuracy, functionality and security controls of the automated election system or AES software; and completed a source code review, among others.
“With all due respect, the undersigned cannot overemphasize the importance of the strict compliance with the provisions of R.A. No. 9369 taking into account that the success of the 2016 automated election truly depends on it,” he said.
Poe’s spokesman, Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian, said that while they reserve judgment on the reported problems in the VCMs to be used in the May elections, it gives them enough reason to be cautious.
“It’s a reason for us to be wary of or to put reservations,” he said, “I think that’s unfair to our democracy. That’s unfair to all candidates and unfair to the electorate in those areas because their votes will not be counted.”
Gatchalian also took note of reports that six officials of the National Printing Office, who were previously dismissed from service by the Office of the Ombudsman for graft, still report for work and are in fact assigned to handle the printing of election ballots for the May polls.
Other issues that worry Poe’s camp, he said, are the prospects of having elections in some parts of the country postponed due to possible delays in the printing of ballots, as warned by the Comelec, thus leaving voters unable to exercise their right to vote despite having been cleared by the poll body through their biometrics and registration.
READ: Software glitches bug Comelec
“All these things are somehow adding up and causing some alarm already to the different parties,” said the spokesman.
Gatchalian then called on election officials to address the issues to ensure the credibility of the political exercise.
“We are calling on the Comelec to be more vigilant, get their acts together. We are watching. The moment they start inviting political parties and those of the candidates to observe closely, we will see to it that we will look into these reports,” he further said. CDG
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