Hold order sought vs Smartmatic execs

MANILA, Philippines - Commission on Elections Commissioner Rowena Guanzon yesterday sought a travel restriction for Smartmatic officials and employees for altering the script, or hash code, of the Comelec’s transparency server on the night of May 9 without permission from the poll body.

In a memorandum to the Comelec, Guanzon said Smartmatic officials and personnel should not be allowed to leave the country in view of the investigation to be conducted by the agency.

“I urge the en banc, specifically through Commissioner Christian Robert Lim, to write and direct Smartmatic Philippines to issue a memorandum and/or an order prohibiting their officers and employees from leaving the country until the investigation is terminated and concluded,” Guanzon said.

The camp of vice presidential candidate Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. complained that the hash code had been changed.

Marcos claimed that the change caused his rival, Liberal Party bet Rep. Leni Robredo, to overtake him in the quick count of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) early on May 10, the day after elections.

Smartmatic Philippines project manager Marlon Garcia confirmed that the alteration was done, but said it was only for “cosmetic” purposes and not intended to rig the elections.

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

Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista earlier said that “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.”

In a press briefing yesterday, Bautista expressed confidence that Smartmatic people would not leave the country, saying there is no need to ask the Bureau of Immigration to put them in its watchlist. 

Comelec officials face impeachment

Bautista and Comelec commissioners are also facing possible impeachment for alleged misconduct during the elections.

In a five-page petition, lawyer Oliver Lozano asked the Office of Ombudsman to investigate and remove by impeachment the seven Comelec commissioners for betrayal of public trust as they all conspired in tampering the results of the elections.

According to Lozano, the Comelec commissioners “conspired” with Smartmatic, PPCRV and the National Citizen’s Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) in cheating the electorate in favor of Robredo.

“The computer cheating in favor of Robredo is rape of people’s sovereign will, murder of democracy, mockery of the electoral process and assault upon the public welfare,” he added.

Several statisticians, Lozano noted, have attested that cheating occurred in the last elections.

Lozano said statisticians maintained that it is highly improbable for Robredo to obtain 13 million votes while LP standard bearer Manuel Roxas II only garnered nine million votes.

Lozano also noted that unlike Marcos, the bailiwick of Robredo is divided among her fellow Bicolano vice presidential candidates Francis Escudero, Antonio Trillanes, Gringo Honasan and Alan Peter Cayetano, whose wife is also from Bicol.

Lozano said it is impossible for Robredo to win the race when Marcos has numerous bailiwicks and had forged alliances with various groups, including the Iglesia ni Cristo.

Congressional inquiry

The joint congressional committee, through Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, announced it would also conduct an inquiry into the unauthorized change in script on the Comelec transparency server on May 19.

Lawmakers have also asked Comelec officials to immediately resolve the controversy over what they said were the cosmetic changes made to the script in the transparency servers that triggered accusations of fraud in the tallying of votes.

Abakada party-list Rep. Jonathan de la Cruz cited the negative comments of Guanzon on Smartmatic for making changes in the script of transparency servers without due permission from Comelec.

“This is of serious concern. It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about the truth and Comelec has the duty to ensure that the elections are fair, honest and credible,” De la Cruz.  – With Helen Flores, Paolo Romero, Ghio Ong, Mayen Jaymalin