Robredo welcomes Marcos request for poll systems audit

Leading VP candidate Leni Robredo during the thanksgiving mass in Ateneo Church of the Gesu. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / JILSON SECKLER TIU

Leading vice presidential candidate Camarines Sur Rep. Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo supports the move of he closest rival Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s camp to demand a systems audit from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to remove doubts about the results of the unofficial tally of votes for second highest position in the land.

READ: Marcos camp to seek poll systems audit

In an interview with reporters in Naga City, Camarines Sur on Wednesday, Robredo said Marcos’ request to the Comelec would not only benefit him, but it would also clear her name from allegations of electoral fraud.

“Wala naman akong pagkontra sa system audit. Sang-ayon ako na may system audit para maalis ang lahat ng duda tungkol sa integridad ng proseso ng eleksyon,” Robredo said.

(I don’t oppose the system audit [request]. I agree that there should be a system audit so all doubts on the integrity of the elections process would be cleared.)

“Iyong hindi okay sa akin iyong nagpaparatang na nandaya na wala namang basehan. Palagay ko hindi lang siya ang mag-bebenefit pati din ako. Kaya sa akin welcome na welcome iyon,” she said.

(For me, it’s no okay to accuse [someone] of cheating without basis. I think it would not only benefit him but me as well. I welcome that [request].)

Marcos wants a systems audit to determine the extent of the effect of the “unauthorized” tampering of a hash code in the Comelec’s transparency server.

Election technology provider Smartmatic has admitted to making changes in the transparency script as the Comelec received votes from different precincts nationwide.

Smartmatic’s technical support leader Marlon Garcia said they had to change the question marks in the names of candidates with “Ñ,” a letter which the system cannot read. Garcia said the Comelec was informed about the change in the hash code.

But both Garcia and Comelec officials have assured that the changes effected were merely “cosmetic” and did not affect the results of the vote count.

READ: Comelec says script tweak was minor, did not affect results

The head of Marcos’ legal team Jose Amor Amorado said they have found several irregularities in the tabulation of certificates of canvass (COCs) nationwide.

Based on their own tabulation of 100 COCs out of 108, Marcos’ camp claims that he is leading the race by 117,939 votes over Robredo.

This was contrary to the results from the Comelec and Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) which shows that Robredo is leading with 219,127 votes.

“Wala naman kasi tayong ibang pagbabasehan pero ang numero ng Comelec. Hindi ko lang alam bakit ang numero namin nag-ja-jive sa numero ng Comelec. Nag-ja-jive sa numero ng PPCRV,” she said.

(We lack other bases other than the numbers from Comelec. I don’t know why our numbers jive with the numbers from Comelec. It also jives with the numbers from PPCRV.)

“Pero iyong sa kanya hindi. Iyon ang hindi ko alam,” Robredo said.

(But his camp claims otherwise. I don’t know about that.) RAM