MANILA, Philippines – Lawmakers urged “doomsayers” to cooperate with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in implementing the full computerization of the May 2010 polls because the poll automation law has enough safeguards against cheating.
Senator Richard Gordon, the principal author of the amended Automated Elections Systems Law, enumerated at least 16 safeguards required under the law to ensure the integrity of next year’s elections.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri agreed, saying the country must keep up with the times and modernize the country’s outmoded and antiquated manual election system, which has resulted in allegations of massive cheating and other poll irregularities.
Otherwise, Zubiri warned the country would always stagnate and remain in a backward state as far as the electoral process is concerned.
Gordon and Zubiri were reacting to the claim of lawyer Christian Monsod, the former Comelec chairman, that the precinct counting optical scan (PCOC) system would not be transparent as it would place the election results in the hands of “software specialists” who could manipulate the votes.
The PCOC, an improved version of the optical mark reader (OMR) system used successfully in the 2008 polls at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), was chosen by the Comelec to computerize the 2010 elections.
Retired Supreme Court justice Jose Melo, the Comelec chairman, said the lessons learned from the country’s first-ever attempt to computerize the polls in ARMM would prove helpful in the automation of the 2010 elections.
In May next year, Filipino voters are to elect the successors of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Vice President Noli de Castro as well as senators, congressmen as well as provincial and local government officials, like governor, mayor and councilor.
According to Monsod, the Comelec should have opted for the open election system espoused by local information technology experts which, he claimed, was more transparent.
But Gordon disputed Monsod’s claim, saying that the poll automation law includes adequate safeguards to minimize the possibility of cheating in the 2010 elections.
Under the law, Gordon said it mandates minimum system requirements which include adequate security against unauthorized access; accessibility to illiterates and disabled voters; vote tabulating program for election, referendum or plebiscite; accurate ballot counters; and data retention provision.
He added the law also mandates accuracy in recording and reading of votes as well as in the tabulation, consolidation/canvassing, electronic transmission and storage of election results.
Moreover, the law requires a source code for the automated election system to be selected and to be made available by the Comelec to all interested parties for their review, Gordon pointed out.
For his part, Zubiri reminded Monsod that as a former Comelec chairman, he should be aware that the primitive electoral system is not only prone to cheating and delays in the transmittal and announcement of the results but this could also endanger the lives of teachers and poll officials.
Zubiri recalled that the law underwent a series of hearings and intense debate in the Senate and the House of Representatives to ensure that election automation has enough safeguards to prevent hacking of the computer system.
In this light, he urged Monsod and the other “doomsayers” to cooperate with the Comelec to achieve the vision of Filipinos for peaceful, honest and credible conduct of elections in May 2010.
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