AFP mum on report of China plan to sabotage 2016 polls

MANILA, Philippines - The military on Thursday kept mum on the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) statement that China may sabotage the 2016 polls.

Armed Forces spokesman Col. Restituto Padilla said he could not react to the issue because there are no military reports supporting the poll body’s claim.

"This is the first time that the AFP received information on the matter and after checking with our concerned staff offices, we found out there is no report in our files to substantiate this,” Padilla said in a statement.

“Hence, we could not comment on an issue we know nothing about,” he added.

Armed Forces Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Edgar Fallorina also claimed that he is not aware of such report.

“Probably you can ask the Comelec where they got the source,” Fallorina said in a chance interview.

“I can’t comment on that yet. I’m not aware of such statement,” he added.

Fallorina, nevertheless, stressed that the military would work to ensure that the upcoming election would be honest, orderly and peaceful.

On Wednesday, Comelec Commissioner Christian Robert Lim revealed that the poll body had received reports that China might sabotage the results of the May 2016 elections.

Speaking to lawmakers during a budget hearing at the House of Representatives, Lim said the report had prompted the Comelec to ask the reader machines provider to move its manufacturing site from Suzhou, China to Taiwan.

He said the transfer of manufacturing site was a product of contract negotiations with Smartmatic-Total Information Management Inc., the provider of the optical mark reader machines.

The Philippines and China are embroiled in a territorial row over parts of the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). China claims virtually the entire West Philippine Sea, where more than $5-trilion worth of world trade passes through every year.

The Philippines has challenged China’s expansive claim before an international arbitral tribunal but the Chinese government refused to respond to the complaint.

A military source who spoke on condition of anonymity said a poll sabotage using technology is possible but efforts are being made to prevent it.

“I cannot say there is an actual sabotage but the potential is there. It can be activated remotely. You should remember we are already wired, we are using the internet,” the source, a senior officer, said.

Another military official said the informant of Lim may have been an “unofficial source.”

“We are trying to determine who talked to him (Lim),” the source said.

While the information relayed by Comelec remains unverified, the source believes the poll body is just doing what it can to ensure credible elections.

“With this, you can be sure that they are taking the necessary steps to ensure the integrity of our electoral process,” the source said.