By PAULINE DYCOCO and JONALYN FORTUNO
AS Congress convenes for the canvassing of votes today, the House investigation on poll irregularities will proceed as losing candidates continue to present “evidence” of fraud in the country’s first automated elections.
The Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms yesterday said it will invite people who allegedly offered to rig the results in favor a certain candidate for a certain fee.
During the hearing yesterday, former Surigao del Norte Governor Robert Ace Barbers said he was offered P50 million by a poll operator who claimed he can reconfigure compact flash cards to contain preprogrammed results in favor of Barbers. He also said the transmission from the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) can be disrupted and overridden by another machine.
According to Barbers, who lost in his reelection bid, he would have to pay 35 percent of the fee as downpayment. The rest would be given after proclamation. Barbers said the offer included results in favor of his entire slate – from the vice governor down to all his mayors.
“I thought it was not realistic. I have big faith in the automation system, that it’s fraud-proof, that’s why I ignored the offer,” he said. The man said should Barbers turn him down, he will offer his services to the governor’s opponent. When the results came out, much to Barbers’s surprise and dismay, his entire team lost.
Three other losing candidates – Laguna Governor Teresita Lazaro, Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor, and Sulu Rep. Munir Arbison – said they were likewise approached by operators who can make them win.
During the committee hearing last Friday, La Union (2nd district) Rep. Thomas Dumpit Jr. also said technicians can manipulate results “if the price is right.” Smartmatic’s automation system, he said, made it easier for “wholesale cheating” to happen instead of eliminating poll fraud.
According to Rep. Dumpit, technicians can manipulate results as long as the price is right and that Smartmatic did not eliminate election fraud, but instead made it easier for “wholesale cheating” to happen. In his province, Dumpit alleged that CF cards were switched and that the transmission of results were tampered with.
Iloilo Rep. Raul Gonzales Jr. during last week’s hearing said a “possible connivance between opponents and suspected IT experts connected with Smartmatic” to rig the results may have occurred.
“The PCOS machine is nothing but a glamorized counting machine,” he concluded.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez, however, dismissed these allegations as a case of a “me-too syndrome.” He said the barrage of poll fraud allegations and pre-election offers made other losing candidates say “me too.”
The committee’s investigation, chaired by Makati City Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., was convened after losing representatives and other officials cried foul over allegations of massive cheating during the May 10 polls.
The authors are students of Bicol University doing their summer internship at Vera Files.