The sanctity of the ballot

The last election proved that people could assert their sovereignty when gathered together in numbers. A multitude like the May 7 miting de avance in Luneta can bring about change. Change can be for good or bad. There was no doubt that the people would not have it any other way but that Rodrigo Duterte should win and they showed it by the force of numbers.

Many suspect that the Aquino government had worked in tandem with Smartmatic PCOS to do the cheating. IT specialists knew it and Congressional hearings were conducted but nothing came out of these. It was simply ignored. There was a misplaced hope that somehow they could go through another election with Smartmatic PCOS that would be fair and free. Against the Constitution, the elections were simply turned over to a foreign group that traded on automatic electoral systems. By the time Comelec had hired Smartmatic the latter was already facing cases in other countries that had used it and had been rejected. Comelec need only have googled to find out.

* * * That is the unhappy story of Smartmatic’s work in the Philippines. The sanctity of the ballot was simply thrown into the bin.

No matter who our candidates are, we should all be working to preserve the sanctity of the ballot. Cheating is an affront to our democracy. It thwarts the sovereign will of the people to choose freely whom they want in a fair election. This is clearly unacceptable.

We have seen in recent days different explanations on how cheating could have been done. Comelec admitted its hash code was breached but insists the integrity of its system is untouched.

Bongbong Marcos has protested, some senators have protested, now even mayoralty candidates who have lost to the LP claim there was fraud. On social media commonsensical questions have been asked: “How can Frank Drilon obtain more than 18 million votes, more votes than Duterte’s 16 million, more votes than Aquino had in the 2010 election? That makes him the most popular candidate in the country. Why then was he not chosen to be the LP presidential standard bearer instead of Mar Roxas?” How was the Comelec system breached? One IT expert working in a foreign country in a large company offers an explanation that was posted on social media by a senatorial candidate Raffy Alunan.

“The report says PCOS/VCM used MD5 hash. I can see some concerns here, using MD5 hashing. You can google it, you can easily decrypt it. Though you can easily decrypt it, it’s still impossible for you to grab and extract it, unless you have a direct access to the system. Firewalls, IDS, IPS, and all other security perimeters are in place. The only one who can do it is someone who really knows his way around the system or some one who has an inside knowledge on how to access the system.

“What I can see here, it seems the transmission between the Server and the PCOS/VCM has been breached. The actual VCM, that has a unique MD5 hash key connecting to the Server, has been replaced with an unknown VCM. This unknown VCM has a different data but has a file with the same filename used on the application database in the server. Since this VCM is a different machine, a unique MD5 hash key algorithm will be used. Here’s possibly what happened: Our good friend, who has an access to the server, did run the script to install the MD5 hash key similar to the unknown VCM into the server. Once the MD5 hash key has been installed, the old VCM will not be able to throw the data back to the server as the server is now using a different MD5 hash key. This time the old VCM has been replaced by this unknown VCM and this unknown VCM has now the right to throw its data to the server. Easy right?

“During this change activity, disruption on the transmission most likely will occur. End nodes such application host, etc., will be prompted with an unknown error, the programmers will think there’s a code issues with their applications. But if you can see it, it’s just a simple migration of data connection between the two VCM connecting the server.

“So then, Mr. Comelec, you explained to the public the change being done was only a breakfix for “?” to “ñ”. But what about those MD5 hash concerns?

“If you are an IT Security/Network professional, you know what I’m talking about.”

Another expert Glenn Chong has asked that the central data base of Comelec be opened to IT experts to investigate. So far no response from Comelec.

* * * Bayanko adviser Jose Alejandrino, who had warned social media before the May 9 elections that a program would be injected that cannot be detected and only comes into play once the tally of votes begins, has called for a declaration of partial failure of elections by Comelec for the VP and senatorial races.

“There is enough technical evidence by IT experts to show that cheating occurred in the votes of vice presidential candidates, and, most likely, those of senatorial candidates.

“Given Duterte’s enormous lead in the presidential race it became too risky to cheat him, particularly after the over one million show of force by Dutertistas at the Luneta two days before the elections to warn the Aquino government of the consequences of cheating their candidate. The Palace dreaded a revolution.

“The fallback plan was to ensure the election of a LP Vice President and enough LP senators to thwart a Duterte presidency and its program of change. Once blocked, the people would lose faith in Duterte and a decline in his popularity to pave the way for his ouster and replacement by a LP Vice President. This would be the return to the status quo.

“Marcos claims he has been cheated. Robredo denies this. So does Comelec. Hurling charges and countercharges against each other will not settle the problem. It will merely add to the tension.

“If Comelec adopts a non-partisan approach, as it should being an independent constitutional body, it must declare a failure of elections in the VP and senatorial races, as it has already done in some voting areas where anomalies happened, and call for new elections to those positions. The new president Duterte will be the guarantor of fair and free elections. This way nobody can contest the results of the new elections.

“Failing this, Comelec can be accused of favoring the LP and open itself to accountability. Failing this, the VP and senators it proclaims will leave a cloud of suspicion over their legitimacy to hold office. Both could destabilize the nation.

“The Comelec must act now in a non-partisan way if it is to retain its credibility.”