Three losing presidential bets troop to Supreme Court

MANILA, Philippines - Three losing presidential candidates yesterday filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) urging it to stop the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from destroying the compact flash cards used in the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines that malfunctioned during testing before the May 10 national and local elections.

But the Comelec gave assurance yesterday that it would not destroy the flash cards.

In an ambush interview, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said all of the flash cards, including those recalled by Smartmatic-Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) prior to the May 10 polls, would be kept at the warehouse in Cabuyao, Laguna.

“The flash cards will not be destroyed... Some of the cards are already in the warehouse,” he noted.

Larrazabal added that when the time comes that the flash cards would have to be returned to Smartmatic-TIM, the Comelec would still have copies of the data files contained in the cards.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez reiterated that the votes or the election results are not stored in the flash cards but in the main memory cards found in the PCOS machines.

Jimenez added that flash cards only contained information about a polling precinct where a particular PCOS machine is assigned. 

Presidential also-rans Sen. Jamby Madrigal, Nicanor Perlas and JC de los Reyes, in an 11-page petition, yesterday asked the SC to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) as well as a permanent injunction against the implementation of Comelec Resolution 8914.

Comelec Resolution 8914 sought to destroy the 76,000 flash cards and delete the final testing and sealing data from the canvassing laptops used during the country’s first automated polls last May 10.

Through lawyer Jose Aspiras, Madrigal, Perlas and De los Reyes asked SC to order the Comelec to turn over the custody of the flash cards and final testing and sealing data to the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee, pursuant to Section 27 of Republic Act 9369 (Amended Automated Election System Law) to review and assess the Automated Election System (AES) technologies utilized, including their strengths, weaknesses, applicability or inapplicability in specific areas and situations.

They said destroying the data in the flash cards and final testing and sealing would suppress vital evidence that the oversight committee would need if it were to carry out its mandate to review and assess the automated polls.

They want to know whether the contents of the flash cards and the final testing and sealing data in the Consolidation and Canvassing System (CCS) laptops are covered and protected by the people’s right to information.

Meanwhile, lawyer Homobono Adaza filed graft charges against Chairman Jose Melo and other ranking officials of the Comelec at the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday, accusing them of violating important provisions of the automated election law.  – With Evelyn Macairan, Michael Punongbayan