3rd complaint filed vs past, incumbent Comelec officials

MANILA, Philippines - A third complaint in less than a month has been filed against incumbent and former election officials before the Office of the Ombudsman.

The respondents are Commission on Elections Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr., Commissioners Lucenito Tagle, Elias Yusoph, Christian Robert Lim and Maria Gracia Cielo Padaca; Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) chair Henrietta de Villa; former election chairman Jose Melo and former commissioners Rene Sarmiento, Nicodemo Ferrer, Armando Velasco, and Gregorio Larrazabal.

Brillantes, Tagle, Yusoph, Lim, Padaca, and De Villa are accused of violating Republic Act No. 8436 as amended, the Automated Elections Law.

Melo, Tagle, Yusoph, Sarmiento, Ferrer, Velasco, and Larrazabal are accused of violating election laws during the May 2010 national polls.

Smartmatic officials Antonio Mugica and Cesar Flores were also charged for allegedly acting in conspiracy with public officials.

Tanggulang Demokrasya Inc. (TanDem) and Bagumbayan-VMP Movement Inc. filed the  complaint yesterday.

“By willfully, maliciously and feloniously conspiring and refusing to allow complainants to review the source code mandated by the AES Laws, particularly complainant Bagumbayan, all the respondents, both past and present, except respondent De Villa, interfered and impeded with, as well as prevented the proper use of computer counting devices (the PCOS machines), which affected the processing, generation and transmission of election results, data or information contrary to Section 35 (b) of Republic Act No. 8436, as amended by Republic Act No. 9369,” read the complaint.

Respondents were also accused of “conspiring and removing the digital signatures and voter verification requirements under the AES Laws,” as well as having “tampered with the official ballots and election returns used in the system.”

TanDem and Bagumbayan also accused Comelec and Smartmatic officials of tampering with the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines during the May 2010 and May 2013 elections; interfering and impeding with, as well as preventing the proper use of the computer counting devices which affected the processing, generation and transmission of election results, data or information; and causing access to using, altering, destroying or disclosing any computer data, program, system software, network, or any computer-related devices.

“By conspiring and removing the randomness of the manual audit in gross violation of the requirements under the AES Laws, all the respondents, both past and present, including respondent De Villa, should be held criminally and administratively liable,” read the complaint.