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Solons slam Comelec for denying watchdogs at Laguna facility

By Nidz Godino

"The reason here is security, as far as response of Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo…there is an observation room that is confined…it's not even interactive to anyone…we cannot find why there is a security issue…maski na medical issue, because it's a ghost observer's room that we have been using since 2016," information-technology expert and lawyer Alexander Ramos said poll monitors and senators criticized Commission on Elections (Comelec) for continuing to refuse being observed in its preparations for  May elections.

Speaking before  Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People's Participation, Ramos said his attempts to enter the Comelec's warehouse in Sta. Rosa city, Laguna to check activity there have been rejected.

 "Every week I go to the gates . . . ayaw eh… I cannot force  Comelec guards to do that for me…sabi nila walang coordination, walang authority...same statement for the last 12 weeks,"Ramos climed.

Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting chairperson Myla Villanueva's office has been writing to  Comelec to allow them to monitor the warehouse

"We were allowed easy access in the past…now we understand that there's a pandemic, but we've been constantly writing, whether it's  pandemic, we also request that livestreaming be done…it's very easy to set up  camera for everyone in the nation to see the floor at a distance if it was  pandemic issue…but as you said, it's already COVID-19 Alert Level 1 and we constantly request to be allowed inside National Printing Office in Sta. Rosa" Villanueva said.

Helen Aguila Flores, vice chairman of  Comelec  printing committee, said  pandemic was the reason for  not allowing entry into the facility.

"While it is true that our chairperson of the printing committee, Commissioner Casquejo, has temporarily requested observation be postponed, it is not true that there is  definite denial of request to observe  printing process, your honor…from what he said during one of our meetings, it will be allowed in due time, it's just that during the time that this request came, the (COVD) alert level I think was No. 2," Flores said.

The explanation irked Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, who previously chaired  electoral reforms panel. COVID-19 or not, the Comelec is mandated to show  public what's happening amid all its election preparations, he said.

"No matter what  Alert Level is, no matter what pandemic situation is, for as long as  Comelec is undergoing election related activities, they should allow witnesses . . . that's the nature of the activity eh… people must be allowed…so do not use  pandemic as  reason and then tuloy 'yung Comelec activity, which should be open to the people for transparency's sake," Pimentel stressed.

Sen. Imee Marcos, chairperson of the electoral reforms committee, said "kung talagang napakahigpit yung Alert Level, sabihin na nating 2 or 3, e di sana nahinto 'yung printing…totally tapos... pero hind pwedeng tuluy-tuloy kayo tapos hindi kayo nagpapapasok ng tao…pambihirang buhay 'yan."

One of the issues also raised by poll monitors was  ongoing "configuration" of SD cards which, according to Comelec information and technology director Jeannie Flororita, is about to be completed, and the gathering, too, of digital signatures of teachers who will oversee the electoral process on the actual election day.

Hubert Guevara, another IT expert, cited Casquejo's commitment to allow election observers and representatives of different candidates in the regional and provincial hubs.

Casquejo earlier made  commitment to all parties  will be allow their physical presence in the regional and provincial hubs, data center, as well as in "meet me room", or where  transmittal router is located, Guevara said. 

Election returns will be also posted on the Comelec website.

"All of a sudden merong pagsisikip ng accommodation . . . we have people who'd go to the area and this same people who cannot enter," Guevara said.

IT expert and lawyer Ivan John Uy expressed his concern on Comelec's creation of various "regional hubs" that handle concerns or reconfigure defective SD cards or VCMs (vote counting machine) during election day.

"In the past there was a very secure, single, well-guarded configuration room in Sta. Rosa City, now, we have it scattered all over  provinces, and all over the region, without anybody knowing who are stationed there, who are guarding that and that there are no oversight from any political party," Uy pointed out.

In defense, Flororita said there was no intention to hide  proceedings to the public. She said  Comelec has already scheduled  "walk-through" at the warehouse on Monday, March 14, and March 22 as an "end-to-end" demonstration.

"Because we are securing the area because  configuration is there... ang mga security guard po will not allow you to the area if you don't have  approval before entering the area," Flororita said.

"The configuration I'm mentioning po is the creation of  SD card with configuration, but the process of pre-election logic and accuracy test is not yet done."

Flororita said this was just the first stage of the process and  other important stages of SD card production will follow.

She said  commission put up differed "configuration sites" to ensure fast action to SD cards or VCMs that will act up on election day.

"Sa regions and province, we call it technical hubs…that's where we copy  specific configuration in case  VCM or an SD card becomes defective, let's go to Mindanao…instead of going to Sta. Rosa for  replacement of that specific precinct, what we are doing is from Sta. Rosa, we create that specific precinct only file, and send it to Mindanao hub, and then they will just copy…they are not doing  configuration, but copying … and the personnel assigned there are from Department of Science and Technology and Department of Information and Communications po" Flororita said.

All hubs are being managed by DOST and DICT personnel, Flororita said.

Uy emphasized there should be an assurance that data being transmitted, in this instance, from Mindanao to Sta. Rosa, will not be compromised or intercepted along the way.

"Since these are provincial and regional hubs, shouldn't all  political parties, watchdogs be present there so that what is being swapped SD cards are not pre-loaded SD cards?" he said.

Election observers also see the issue of "digital signature"  teachers will be using to access VCMs as another concern, he said.

"There will just be a selected areas to implement  digital signature…mainly because of  lack of equipment that we will need to copy from the Electoral Board of Digital Signature to the I-button," Flororita said in response. 

Around 300,000 teachers deployed to election precincts have been enrolled to the digital signature program, according to DICT acting Secretary Emmanuel Caintic.

"Ang way para magamit 'yan sa mismong halalan ay gagamitin 'yung I-button…we were informed by Comelec na . . . kulang po kasi . . . 'yung kagamitan para idugtong sa isang server para doon ida-download at bitbit ng teacher 'yung I-button…sapat 'yung nabiling I-button pero nagkulang sa download cable para pandugtong," Caintic said.

Marcos scored on 3 failed biddings entered into by the Comelec on the said project and asked the commission to explain.

"In first quarter of 2021, we already have biddings for the network adaptor that will connect  I-button reader and I-button to the laptop…pero because po of  pandemic 'yung mga supplier po hindi sila nag-bid, hindi sila nag-join during bidding . . . because we cannot get  2,000, we decreased that to kahit mga 1,000 and then naging 200 na nga lang po... still po hindi kami makabili, what we have po in Comelec is 29 pieces that's why po we decided to have na lang pilot tests dun sa 29 na 'yun that can be shared by municipalities" Flororita said.

The Comelec, according to Flores, has already printed 66.4% of the required ballots of more than 65 million ballots for this year's elections.

"Out of the 66.4% printed ballots, because there is still another stage called verification…verification is still ongoing at 47% and ballots exited is at 42% . . .they have already been turned over to the packing and shipping, your honor," she said.

Pimentel said the Comelec should be aware of "sensitivities from the very start of the electoral period."

"People really need to have access, whether interested parties or those who are interested in our democratic processes, how long is Comelec inconsistence…parang half a century na yata…dapat alam na nila 'yan" he said.

Flores said  plan to livestream the process is "now in the works" as she vowed to relay the concerns to Cosquejo. 

As for the alleged "breached" Comelec data earlier reported by a leading daily, the DICT, the National Privacy Commission, and  Comelec said was no such compromise, since vital information of voters being kept by the poll body have yet to be uploaded into their system.

Flororita said supposed compromised data have been checked, earlier identified by the NPC as one covering overseas voters.

"The Office of Overseas Voting, we do not have that file in our possession because it's in excel file…ang mga files po namin for  voter's information are in the database…so, it is not from Comelec, that specific file, we're not giving to Smartmatic, that personal information with Personal Identifiable Information" Flororita told the committee.

The NPC, confirmed  what it suspected was that  leaked information came from Smartmatic, a 3rd-party firm.

Marcos has instructed the panel to invite Smartmatic to the next hearing to explain its side.

"The only information that we've given to Smartmatic are only the electoral data... these are  candidates, project of precinct, clustered precinct, city, municipality, province and the number of seats and positions," Flororita concluded.

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