Locsin ready to clear Smartmatic

MANILA, Philippines - The House body investigating allegations of fraud in the May 10 polls is “close to clearing” automation contractor Smartmatic and is now focusing on the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

This was revealed by Makati City Rep. Teodoro “Teddyboy” Locsin, chairman of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms.

Locsin also rejected an appeal from defeated Quezon City mayoralty candidate and outgoing congresswoman Annie Rosa Susano to be allowed to check the contents of a compact flash card in her possession right in the session hall using a “virgin” precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine.

Smartmatic was able to convince committee members that its system was foolproof during a demonstration at its plant in Cabuyao, Laguna last Monday.

Information technology experts have also told the committee that it would be hard for outsiders to hack the system or cheat electronically.

But Smartmatic president for Asia-Pacific Cesar Flores and IT expert Heider Garcia said key Comelec personnel have access to encryptions and bar codes that are meant to protect the system from manipulation by outsiders.

The Comelec is the “administrator” of the country’s first automated polls, based on its contract with Smartmatic.

Comelec’s IT experts have been invited to the next hearing today.

Roberto Verzola of the group Halalang Marangal said the “remaining possibility (for cheating) is an inside job” although he stressed that Smartmatic should not be let off the hook.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, for his part, said unscrupulous personnel of the Department of Science and Technology could have reconfigured 20 “backup” CF cards on the eve of the elections in Cagayan de Oro City and not in Smartmatic’s Cabuyao facility.

But Flores assured him that the reconfiguration of the cards was made only in Smartmatic’s Laguna warehouse and that the CF cards Rodriguez was referring to were blank.

Four CF cards were found in a junkyard in Cagayan de Oro City a few days after the elections. The cards turned out to be “genuine” and contained all transmitted results.

‘Virgin’ PCOS

Susano, meanwhile, wanted Locsin’s committee to check the contents of the CF card in her possession using only a “virgin” PCOS machine.

“I don’t believe she would use that word,” Locsin reacted in disbelief.

“Are you really asking for a virgin PCOS machine?” he asked Susano.

“Yeaahhhh! I don’t trust the PCOS in Cabuyao. It is just a controlled zone. I was advised by IT experts,” she replied.

“I don’t want to be a part of this!” Locsin shot back as he walked away.

Susano said she walked out of Monday’s inspection of Smartmatic’s Cabuyao warehouse after realizing they were in a “controlled zone.”

“It’s different if you are in a controlled zone. Gusto ko ma-test sa session hall (I want it tested in the session hall),” Susano said. 

“I’ll never give her another chance. I almost had a heat stroke in Cabuyao, it was so hot there,” Locsin said

“OK, who wants to give her another chance? Who wants to give her a chance to retest it here using again Smartmatic equipment? What’s the difference except there’s aircon here?” he added.

Probe sought

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales alleged there was massive cheating in the May 10 elections and called on the authorities to investigate the technical glitches as well as the complaints of losing candidates.

Gonzales’ daughter, Maria Aurora, lost in the congressional race in Bataan.

“I believe cheating happened. What I am saying to those interested in protecting and preserving our democracy is, quietly, let us really examine what happened in the elections,” Gonzales told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo.

“The big problem now is, if you lost and you complain, they will think you are sour graping. Now, I am listening to the losing candidates because I think there is truth to some of the things they are saying,” he said.

Gonzales declined to identify the candidates who benefited from the supposed massive cheating. When asked if the poll fraud was widespread, he said, “Well, the complaints are widespread. Let us see if the cheating was widespread.”

“But there are indications already that there is truth to the other incidents reported by some losing candidates,” he said.

“We owe it to our people to show what really happened in the last elections. There are definitely deficiencies in those (counting) machines, there are deficiencies in transmissions, there are manipulations in the elections,” he said.

“I would really want to go deeper into why there were fake ballots, why there were authentic ballots sold to some politicians,” he added.

“We have to know the truth, not necessarily for the courts. The deficiencies during the elections should be seen so these can be corrected for the next one,” he said.

But the Armed Forces of the Philippines maintained that there were no tangible signs of massive fraud during the May 10 polls.

“We did not receive any report about cheating. We can also say that no soldier was involved in these kinds of operations,” AFP spokesman Lt. Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said.

Gonzales had claimed before the elections that some groups were planning to bribe poll officials as well as soldiers and policemen so they could rig the elections. He did not name names.

The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, the citizen’s arm of the Comelec, said despite discrepancies in the election returns, no sign of massive fraud has been detected. - With Alexis Romero