EDITORIAL - Behind the mask

“Koala Boy” and the video where he stars could not have sprung from the Australian outback, much less out of thin air. The self-styled whistle-blower, hiding behind a mask that made him look like the Australian marsupial, claimed to have first-hand knowledge of a hacking operation that altered the results of the country’s first-ever automated elections.

The source of the video – and the identification of Koala Boy – should not be an impossible task. Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., whose committee is looking into the conduct of the automated elections, said he learned of the source of the video from Speaker Prospero Nograles Jr., who was defeated in the race for mayor of Davao City. Nograles was reportedly given the video by President Arroyo’s trusted former executive secretary Eduardo Ermita, who has also lost in his bid for a congressional seat representing Batangas.

Locsin said former environment secretary Jose Atienza, who was defeated in the race for mayor of Manila, also appeared to have knowledge of the video, and had referred him to the prophet of election failure, Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales.

Ermita admitted receiving the video and said he showed it to some Catholic bishops. But he denied involvement in its production or knowing the identity of Koala Boy. He later said a newspaper columnist gave him the video.

If Koala Boy’s story of hacking is true and the automated vote has been sabotaged, the nation deserves to know the truth as soon as possible, before the congressional canvass proclaims the new president and vice president based on compromised electronic data. But the truth can be determined only if Koala Boy is unmasked and tells his story under oath, with material evidence to support his allegations.

If Koala Boy is telling the truth, he deserves the full protection of the state, and a grateful nation will be in his debt forever. If he is lying, he must be punished for trying to undermine the elections, together with whoever put him up to it. Koala Boy and everyone behind him must be unmasked.