Bongbong hints LP behind alleged server anomaly

SENATOR Bongbong Marcos on Wednesday hinted that the ruling Liberal Party was behind the change in the script of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) transparency server which he claimed increased the votes of administration candidates Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo.

In an ambush interview at his headquarters in Mandaluyong, Marcos said the change in hash code following the execution of a new computer command in the server cut down his lead over Robredo in the unofficial count early Tuesday.

Earlier, his lawyer Francesca Huang said the change in the computer command occurred at 7:30 p.m. on Monday.

READ: Marcos camp: New script installed in Comelec server 

Marcos said this was around the time presidential bet Roxas switched places with Sen. Grace Poe for the second top spot. Roxas and Poe have both conceded to the presumptive president Rodrigo Duterte.

Since that time, Marcos said his lead started to erode until Robredo overtook him around 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

“Hanggang ngayon wala pa tayong naririnig na magandang paliwanag kung bakit binago yung hash code. Yung timing masyadong coincidental,” Marcos said.

He said the change in voting pattern to Robredo from Marcos after the new computer command was activated in the server was “statistically highly improbable.”

“Pagbalik ng pagbibilang ng boto, nagbago na ang voting pattern. At yung akin lamang, humigit kumulang one million na boto, dahan-dahang nawala. Alas tres y medya, nalampasan na ako. Hindi lang nawala yung aking lamang, nalampasan na ako ng ibang kandidato,” Marcos said.

“Nadagdagan lang yung administrasyon na kandidato. The beneficiaries of these were only the administration candidates,” he added.

Marcos said his camp had looked into the incident reports and found no compelling reason for the change in hash code, which he described as a computer protocol to ensure that the transmitted votes came from the right polling precinct.

Marcos added that his camp received reports from some provinces that the transmitted votes to the Comelec server gave all the votes to Robredo and zero votes to the other candidates.

He said these incidents occurred in Lanao Del Sur, Cotabato City, and other provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“Ang problema is wholesale… Nakita sa ibang lugar sa Mindanao na maliwanag na maliwanag na may sumusubok baguhin ang mga bilang ng boto sa iba’t ibang lugar,” Marcos said.

“May mga lugar, sa isang presinto, lahat ng vice presidential candidates, zero. Ang may boto lang, daang-daan, ay kay Robredo,” he said.

“Nakakapagtaka. Imposible yun. Hindi yun statistically improbable. Imposible yun.”

He said the Comelec must explain the questionable results in some precincts to rule out speculations that the automated elections were rigged.

“Kailangan natin magpaliwanag. Kung hindi maliwanag, ibig sabihin, namamanipula ang resulta,” Marcos said.

Asked if he thinks Robredo was aware of the cheating, Marcos said: “I doubt it. First of all, I don’t think papayag siya to be part of anything this sinister, if there is such a thing.”

He said some “groups” were behind the electoral fraud, hinting that only the ruling Liberal Party has the machinery to rig the automated polls.

“Sino pa bang may kayang gumawa nun? Hindi kaya ng kampanya kong gawin, hindi kayang gawin ng kampanya ng ibang kandidato.”

“I’m not accusing anyone of anything… Kung mayroon talagang ganun nangyari, hindi naman siguro siya ang may kagagawan nito kundi ibang grupo,” Marcos said.

Marcos had decried massive cheating by the Liberal Party, supposedly the administration’s “Plan B”  to rig the elections to make Robredo win and then have Duterte impeached so the Liberal Party can regain control of Malacañang.

READ: Marcos on Robredo lead: ‘Plan B’ in full swing

In reaction, Robredo said it was unfair for Marcos to accuse her of cheating without substantiating it.

“Napaka-unfair na masabing nandadaya na hindi mo naman sinasubstantiate (It’s so unfair to accuse someone of cheating without substantiating your claim),” Robredo said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

READ: Robredo dares critics: Prove accusations of LP poll cheating 

According to the unofficial count by the Comelec transparency server as of 6.45 p.m., Robredo led with 13,966,851 votes or 35.13 percent, or 230,591 votes ahead of Marcos who got 13,736,260 votes or 34.55 percent. The unofficial count was based on the transmitted votes from 95.64 percent of the total 92,509 clustered precincts.