Hacking can come from anywhere

It seemed for a while that the rich and powerful had a monopoly on electoral automated systems and that Filipino voters will just have to accept the results of the systems that they peddle around the world. One of these was the Smartmatic-PCOS machines that were used in the Philippines 2010 and 2013 elections.

When the results of the elections were out good citizens with computer expertise realized that the Smartmatic-PCOS were cheating machines.

But it was too late to expose the cheating that took place as the candidates that used the machines were declared winners.  There was nothing to be done since a protest with the electoral tribunal will take time and money.

So the cheaters using the Smartmatic-PCOS election system went scot free. There were many complaints but the outcry was ignored even if the offenses were sufficient to declare we had failed elections. We are facing another election in 2016 but with nothing resolved about the issues of 2010 and 2013 it will be a repeat performance. Complaints, congressional investigations were all for naught. So expect the same cheating to happen again using the Smartmatic-PCOS machines. Strangely candidates are being put up and discussed as if there would be clean and transparent elections.

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A new term has come to public awareness about computer systems including those designed for elections – cyber warfare. Hackers can shut down the automatic electoral system being readied for 2016 before the cheaters declare themselves as officially elected.

Strangely, instead of facing that hacking can be a formidable weapon against an automatic electoral system like Smartmatic-PCOs system, COMELEC is asking for more funds to ensure it will not be hacked. If the machines can be hacked to make candidates win or lose, it can also be hacked to shut down the whole system. It is double-edged.

Hacking has become so sophisticated it is now at the center of the contemporary cold war. One report said “hackers can comb the system, combine coded photos and Twitter to hit targets.”

“A cybersecurity company has discovered a piece of malware which uses Twitter, coding site Github and online photographs to attack computers.”

Here in the Philippines as far as Comelec is concerned to protect against hacking only means allocating even more money. The electoral body is asking for P100 million to prove that the Smartmatic-PCOs system despite all contrary evidence as hack free.

“Why should the government spend P100 million to prove that its planned poll automation is hack-free? Those who believe or have ample proof that it could be hacked should prove it and spend for it,” election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said. Besides hackers can operate in the secrecy of their private rooms so what is the point?

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MISCELLANY: BayanKo has been actively seeking the participation of intelligent, experienced  and patriotic Filipinos to join the movement organized for constitutional change to give marginalized sector a place in mainstream government. For the moment we are looking for the best men and women to serve an interim shadow government. One of its aims is to transform and restructure the politics in our country that would not need Smartmatic-PCOS to get elected.

I am glad to announce that William Dar, a former secretary of agriculture has joined the movement. He is the co-author of Indian Arun K.Tiwani on “Greening the Grey. The book is about expanding the Green Revolution in Africa and Asia.

It seeks to make agriculture an effective engine for growth for smallholder farmers threatened by ‘Big Food Big Agriculture’ and globalized food chains. It narrates the pioneering efforts of the International Crop Research Centre for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the broad array of its partners working hand-in-hand with the dry land farming poor, overcoming major challenges with dedication, creativity and good cheer through ‘science with a Human Face.’

The book invokes renewed understanding and recommitment to the fundamental role of agriculture in the development process in helping to transform the grey world of dryland poverty, food insecurity and despair, into a green one of food security, health and prosperity. ??      

William Dollente Dar is an agriculture scientist who worked for 15 years as director general of ICRISAT at Hyderabad. Earlier he served as the secretary of Agriculture in the Philippines. A man on a mission and a champion of the poor, William Dar is committed to alleviating the conditions of the poor living in the dry lands of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

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At BayanKo’s meeting Leonardo Monetemayor, president of the Federation of Free Farmers, gave me a copy of the speech delivered by Atty. Noel del Prado at the Ateneo de Manila High School recently. It is so touching I am sharing it with my column’s readers. We share his advocacy. The speech is entitled “There is no shame in being poor.”

Atty. Noel del Prado delivered this speech at the Reading of Honors Program of the Ateneo de Manila High School in the morning of June 22, 2015. Fr. Jboy Gonzales, SJ says it is the most touching speech he has heard for a long time. I am excerpting from it but those who would like to read more can google it from the Internet.

He talked about the Tulong Dunong program of Ateneo and how it helped him with his education. He was teased by classmates for wearing the shabby shirts his mother made for him. I told my tormentors, “Pasensiya na kayo, mahirap lang kami.” And as soon as they heard those few words, they stopped laughing, almost in shock.