Comelec exec seeks probe of Smartmatic Company personnel barred from PICC

MANILA, Philippines - Smartmatic should face investigation for changing the script in a transparency server without informing the Commission on Elections – a move that has put into question the results of the tallying of votes in the May 9 elections, a Comelec official said yesterday.

Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon made the recommendation after the Venezuela-based firm admitted making changes purportedly to correct an error.

Smartmatic has provided the automation technology for the past three elections.

Its officials and personnel have been barred from the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) where the official canvassing of votes is being held.

“Smartmatic in my opinion has breached our protocol and for that they should be held liable to the Comelec, to the people,” Guanzon told a press briefing.

“We will request for a formal investigation of this matter with the en banc so that we can determine if Smartmatic has financial and other liabilities under their contract,” she said.

“What they (Smartmatic) should have done is that if they saw an error, they should have asked permission from the en banc first. They could have explained the problem and the solution, and if these were acceptable to us, then we would have given the permission to do the change,” she pointed out.

“This automated election system is not owned by Smartmatic. It is owned by the Comelec representing the people of the Philippines. It is owned by the government and they are not supposed to change anything without our knowledge and permission,” Guanzon maintained.

“We are just grateful there are no alteration of the election results. Nevertheless, I think we owe it to the people and to the government to have a formal investigation on the possible liabilities of Smartmatic under the contract and under our laws.”

She said Smartmatic has a performance bond that the government can withhold or forfeit.

“I can vote to refuse payment unless I’m satisfied that the breach was benign. Technically, it’s benign. There is no alteration but you know when the people are guarding their votes and the candidates are guarding their votes since Sen. (Ferdinand) Marcos (Jr.) and Cong. Leni Robredo are in a very tight race, then it doesn’t help,” she pointed out.

Guanzon added she would like to know from Smartmatic how it was able to get the needed password to initiate the change in script.

“I am still saying that this is unauthorized and it doesn’t change a thing that they were given part of the password or one password because they asked for it,” she said.

“That initiative to change a minor thing did not come from Comelec. It came from them for they had the last touch on that program. Thank God that it did not alter the results.”

Lacking vigilance

The Comelec official likewise reminded election watchdogs like the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and the National Citizen’s Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) of their duties.

“Regardless of our protocol, the PPCRV, the Namfrel, all political parties and IT experts should be helping the people watch the elections,” she said.

“I asked if they were there and our people said ‘yes they were there.’ Probably they didn’t know it was going to be changed right there and then because precisely Smartmatic didn’t ask the Comelec en banc or the project director first and inform them that there is a problem, that’s probably why the PPCRV and the others didn’t stop him or didn’t think there was anything wrong with what he is going to do,” she said, without specifying who in Smartmatic she was referring to.

“But that’s precisely why we accredited them as guardians of the elections, so that they can be vigilant for the people,” she added.

Earlier, Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista confirmed that the script for the transparency server was changed but stressed “the change made in the script of the transparency server is merely cosmetic and will not in any way affect the results, the counting, canvassing of votes and in the source code of the automated election system.”

The correction was made after an observer noticed the presence of question marks in some candidates’ names where the letter ñ should have appeared.

Marcos’ camp alleged the new script “introduced to the transparency server” may have “altered” the hash codes of the Comelec’s packet data.

They said the senator’s lead of about one million votes began to erode after the change in script was made.

Earlier, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez called on the public not to confuse the hash code with the source code used in the automated elections.

He explained the new hash codes brought about by the change in script would not affect election results.

The Comelec, together with representatives of Smartmatic, held a demonstration at the Comelec transparency server at the Pope Pius XII Center in Manila Thursday night in the presence of representatives of political parties.

PPCRV’s communications director Ana Singson last night admitted there were reports of double entries but there was no dagdag-bawas (vote padding and shaving).

The double entry votes, once clarified, would be corrected in the official tally, she said.

Singson said this would not affect the total votes in their tabulation because “once resolved, the correct number of votes would be returned.”

She said it was a good thing they were also doing a manual audit of the election returns to cross check any possible tampering done in the transmission of votes. 

Banned

In an letter to Smartmatic Philippines general manager Elie Moreno, Comelec Commissioner Christian Robert Lim said that Smartmatic “personnel shall not be allowed access” to the consolidation and canvassing system (CCS) station at the PICC “unless with specific prior authority from the National Board of Canvassers or the Project Monitoring office.”

 “As a precaution measure in the midst of numerous concerns and speculations as to the integrity of the CCS being used for the 2016 national and local elections, please be reminded that the NBOC has the sole and absolute control over the CCS workstation,” Lim, who is also the Comelec project director for the 2016 polls, said.

The letter was also addressed to Smartmatic project manager Marlon Garcia, who initiated the changing of the script.

Lim added that access to the facility “shall always be under the direct supervision of duly designated Comelec personnel.”

“Furthermore, kindly be reminded that as to any other equipment or system you may need to examine, please secure the consent of the undersigned prior to doing any action,” he maintained.

Despite the Comelec’s downplaying the effect of the change in script on elections results, an IT expert said the procedure has actually tainted the credibility of the elections.

“They should not have tweaked it,” Mac Yanto of the Computer Professionals’ Union told The STAR in Filipino. “That is not acceptable. The system is already running, it is already on the critical stage because it is already summing up (the votes).”

The hash code serves as the digital fingerprint of an electronic document.

Reports said those receiving the data packets from the transparency server have noted a mismatch in the hash code.

In a statement, Namfrel said its verification showed that the change in the hash code has not affected the actual value of electoral returns.

“The allegation of fraud is focused on the problem on the hash code. All parties have copies of the ERs from the transparency server. It would be prudent if they can show even a single VCM/ER changed during the time they are complaining about the error,” said the watchdog.

In a statement, Namfrel also slammed Smartmatic for the changes in script without informing poll officials or the watchdogs.

“The main and real issue here would be last minute changes in process and codes as well as lack of quality control by Smartmatic. The system is a multibillion-peso system and the error was so amateurish,” it said.

Yanto also criticized the technology provider, as well as Comelec, for failing to anticipate such issues during the preparation phase.

“They should have seen this before,” he said, stressing that everyone involved – including Comelec commissioners – should have been informed first before a change was implemented.

He said Smartmatic should not be allowed to handle automated elections in the future.

Election watchdog Kontra Daya also said Smartmatic should be investigated after thousands of VCMs malfunctioned during the polls.

“The Philippine government should withhold the remainder of the P8-billion payment to the foreign private firm Smartmatic,” the group said in an earlier statement.

“We call on the Philippine government to ban Smartmatic from future Philippine elections. Allowing a foreign firm to run an exercise of Philippine sovereignty is an anomaly. Allowing the same firm to run our elections three times with the same problems is a tragedy,” it added.

The watchdog also hit the so-called 90 percent transmission rate, saying many election returns were brought to canvassing centers where contents of the SD cards were manually uploaded.

“These, however, would appear in the Comelec transparency servers as ‘transmitted’ results. Comelec and Smartmatic should disclose how many returns were actually transmitted from the precincts and how many were manually brought and uploaded at the canvassing centers,” it said.

Another IT expert, meanwhile, proposed a review of the source code itself to determine if any alteration in the script could have tampered election results.

“Best way to do it is to review the source code,” said independent information forensics expert Drexx Laggui.

“Hash codes are so valuable that they are used as evidence for cybercrime offenses, which can be used from investigation up to the prosecution of the accused,” he said.

Laggui agreed with Guanzon  that “somebody messed up with the change management.”

“Before we make changes into a program, we fill out a form first, then we would wait for our bosses before we do the changes,” he explained.

“Such mess could be caused by simple mismanagement, or negligence, or even malice,” he said.

He recalled that in 2010, he was one of the forensic investigators tasked by the Senate to check on the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines allegedly being kept by a Smartmatic employee.

“We later found out that the document showing the correct hash codes matched with those from the PCOS, and the binaries we extracted were correct, and the methodology was correct,” he said.

Meanwhile, Robredo’s camp called on the public to trust the electoral process, noting that poll officials have given assurances that the changing of the hash code has not affected the results.

“Let us have faith in the process and the democratic exercise. Whether there are doubts or none, the number of votes did not change,” Robredo’s spokesperson Georgina Hernandez said.

“We do not know the objective of those making allegations. But as far as we are concerned, we are not worried,” she added.

Hernandez said Robredo is continuously monitoring the canvassing results while spending time with her daughters.

“She is hopeful that the canvassing will be finished soon and she remains confident that everyone will respect the results of the elections.” – Sheila Crisostomo, Janvic Mateo, Alexis Romero, Ghio Ong, Evelyn Macairan