NPC orders Comelec to explain 'Comeleak'

MANILA, Philippines (Philippine News Agency) – The National Privacy Commission (NPC) ordered the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to comment on the complaint in connection with the hacking of its website and the leakage voters' personal information.

NPC Commissioner Mon Liboro said he has informed Comelec Chair Andres Bautista about the administrative case filed by Jose Ramon Albert, a senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

The NPC likewise ordered the Comelec to send notification to the more than 1.3 million overseas Filipino voters on the online spill, dubbed by the media as "Comeleak."

The Comelec has earlier released a public notice about the incident.

Liboro said, however, that all the overseas voters should also receive individual notifications.

In May, the Comelec restored its website with supposedy stronger security features. Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the new website now has limited functionalities making it hard for hackers to penetrate the website. — with reports from Philstar.com / Rosette Adel