EDITORIAL - Jammed

Chairman Jose Melo of the Commission on Elections downplayed yesterday the risk posed by jammers of mobile phone signals to the conduct of the country’s first automated polls. A Comelec official had expressed concern the other day over reports that some 5,000 jammers of cell phone signals had arrived in the country. The device could be used to block the transmission of votes from polling precincts in May, according to Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.

The Comelec is checking reports that the 5,000 jammers were smuggled into the country about three weeks ago. The Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM, which won the automation contract, are still trying to determine the cause of glitches in recent field tests of several precinct count optical scan machines. The PCOS machines worked after their SIM cards were changed.

Comelec officials have assured the public that mobile phone jammers can themselves be jammed. The use of the device is restricted and needs clearance from the National Telecommunications Commission. So how did 5,000 jammers enter the country, and for what purpose? Less sophisticated versions of the device can be obtained in shopping centers, along with surveillance cameras concealed in pens and buttons.

From the start, concerns have been raised that the people who got away with Oplan Dagdag-Bawas and other forms of vote padding and shaving in the manual elections will do their utmost to manipulate the results of the country’s first automated polls. The concerns cannot be taken lightly, especially in the light of recent cases of hacking of the websites of government agencies, and the glitches in the PCOS machines’ field tests due to malfunctioning SIM cards. The Comelec must be ready with fallback systems that can be immediately put in place in case poll cheats manage to do their worst, using jammers, computers or whatever devices can be used for sinister ends.