Congress to probe script change

The Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Automated Election System chaired by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III is set to conduct an inquiry this Thursday into the unauthorized change in script of a transparency server for automated elections.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista had said the small change in the code was only “cosmetic” and did not compromise the data from the vote counting machines (VCMs) to the central servers.

Bautista said a programmer from Smartmatic merely corrected a typographical error where the letter “ñ” in some candidates’ names was represented by a question mark.

Citing the urgency of the matter, Pimentel said his committee would invite all those involved to explain the change in the server’s script.

“The feasible date is this Thursday. Yes, all are invited. The usual suspects,” Pimentel said.

The Senate will likely invite Marlon Garcia, the Smartmatic project manager in the Philippines, Smartmatic Philippines general manager Elie Moreno, Bautista, poll Commissioner Rowena Guanzon and officials of the poll watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) to the hearing eyed on May 19.

“We are also urgent,” Pimentel said when informed that the Senate inquiry into the Smartmatic mess will coincide with the Senate Blue Ribbon’s resumption of inquiry into the $81-million Bangladesh Bank cyber theft.

Guanzon has been vocal about the breach of protocol by Smartmatic when one of its executives changed the script in the transmission server being used by PPCRV.

The PPCRV, for its part, assured its data were not compromised against allegations that the security of the transparency server had been breached through changing the hash code.

The PPCRV said it conducted “anomaly tests” of its election results which showed the transmitted data were not tampered with.

Pimentel earlier said the Smartmatic officials may be held for sabotage for the incident that happened on the evening of May 9, just as the Comelec and the PPCRV were gathering reports on the canvassing from various areas after the elections.

Pimentel also revealed plans to ask for hold-departure order against 20 officials of the Venezuela-based firm that has been tapped to handle the country’s automated polls since 2010.