Smartmatic shrugs off poll sabotage raps

MANILA, Philippines - Technology provider Smartmatic-Total Information Management Corp. yesterday dismissed as a “nuisance case” the electoral sabotage charge it is facing over allegations that it altered the source code of the automated election system.

“This non-issue is clearly a desperate measure to stop the Commission on Elections (Comelec)’s efforts to fully automate the election as intended by the law,” Smartmatic president for Asia Pacific Cesar Flores said in a statement.

Former Comelec commissioner Gus Lagman and members of the election watchdog Automated Election System Watch (AES Watch) earlier filed before the Comelec’s law department an electoral sabotage case against three officials of Smartmatic, including Flores.

AES Watch accused Smartmatic of altering the source code of the transparency server at the Command Center of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) just hours after voting closed on May 13, 2013.

The source code is defined as the human readable instructions that dictate what the automated election system will do.

Flores called on Lagman and AES to just help the Comelec instead of filing one nuisance case after another against Smartmatic, saying the belated filing of charges against Smartmatic showed that Lagman and company are not serious with their allegations.

“It is rather baffling why Lagman’s group took two long years after the alleged incident to file the case,” Flores added.

Flores also questioned why the complaint was filed after the Comelec junked the hybrid election system proposed by Lagman’s group.

“This absurd charge is obviously being used as a smokescreen to cover up the embarrassing fact that Lagman’s so-called hybrid system was soundly rejected and adjudged as a monumental failure by all stakeholders for being unfinished and poorly prepared,” he said.

“Smartmatic has nothing to hide and we trust that the Comelec Law Department will do its job with utmost impartiality and objectivity, and will dismiss the case as baseless,” he added.

Flores noted that the dismissal of the complaint against Smartmatic would prove to the public that the automated election system in the Philippines is transparent, tamper-proof and auditable.

Comelec prepares for blackouts

But this early, the Comelec is facing another problem: possible power outages that might disrupt the conduct of elections in May 2016.

The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines earlier reported a deficiency in power supply in Mindanao, raising the possibility of longer and more frequent power outages there.

Several parts of Mindanao are experiencing rotating blackouts ranging from one to four hours.

Comelec Commissioner Christian Lim said yesterday the poll body is looking at different measures to address the looming power crisis.

“One of the contingency measures we are considering is that part of the Terms of Reference of the voting machines is that the battery should last for 14 hours.” The14-hour battery life would be enough to get through the voting and counting procedures in the polling precincts, particularly those located in Mindanao provinces, he explained.

The Comelec is also holding meetings with the Department of Energy (DOE), which earlier assured the poll body that there will be enough power supply come the elections.

“In 2013, we called the DOE regarding the power issue and they guaranteed to us that, on Election Day, there will be power in Mindanao,” Lim recounted.