Elections watchdog, nanawagan sa Comelec na ipaliwanag ang isyu sa publiko

MAYNILA - Iginiit ng Commission on Elections (Comelec) nitong Miyerkoles na hindi na-hack ang kanilang data servers, na iniulat ng isang pahayagan noong Enero.

Sabi ni Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo, matapos silang makatanggap ng tip ng umano’y hacking incident, agad silang nag-utos sa steering committee ng imbestigasyon. Pero una pa lang aniya, alam na nilang walang nangyaring hacking.

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"Alam naman namin na yung system namin is not online. It’s not in the web. So the next thing that we investigate is, the only way that they can only get information is through physical means. Meaning, papasok talaga yung ating mga hackers or sinasabing nakakuha ng data doon mismo sa system namin," paliwanag ni Casquejo.

"Ni-review din naman namin yung mga CCTVs. Wala naman any incident na medyo may pumasok na hindi authorized. And tama din po, not existing pa yung data natin," dagdag niya.

Ani Casquejo, hindi talaga nanggaling sa Comelec ang mga data na ipinakita ng umano'y hacking report.

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Gayunman, humingi rin sila ng tulong sa National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) para imbestigahan ang isyu pero wala aniyang napatunayang nangyaring cyber attack o hacking incident sa server ng Comelec.

ISYU SA DATOS

Sa interpellation ni Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., sinabi ni National Movement for Free Elections o Namfrel Secretary-General Eric Alvia na hindi imposibleng galing sa isa sa mga partners ng Comelec ang mga datos na umano’y na-hack.

Sabi ni Alvia, suportado nila ng imbestigasyon sa umano’y hacking incident sa server ng Comelec.

Sinang-ayunan din nito ang konklusyon ng Comelec na wala talagang nangyaring “hacking” sa server ng komisyon.

"We concur with the statements of Comelec that the databases that were being alleged to be stolen do not exist, so there’s a low possibility that a data base has been hacked from the Comelec," sabi ni Alvia.

"We are not discounting the possibility that those information have been obtained from third party sources or vendors which Comelec is working with. We also made some inquiries and the possibility of a server being hacked in Comelec is nil," dagdag niya.

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"So our final position is that the database maybe a database from those who have been working with Comelec as a third party supplier or a vendor of Comelec.”

Sinabi ng komite na hindi kasama sa kanilang mga naimbitahan sa pagdinig ang mga opisyal o kinatawan ng Smartmatic.

WALANG HACKING- PPRCV

Suportado rin ng Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting o PPRCV na walang nangyaring hacking sa server ng Comelec.

Sabi ni Myla Villanueva ng PPCRV, posibleng ang mga sinasabing PINs sa lumabas na balita ng umano’y hacking ay hindi talaga ang mga opisyal na PINs na ginamit ng Comelec.

“We confirmed that we received information that the data is not the 2022 data, because it has not been generated," sabi ni Villanueva.

"That’s in the positive. We agreed and we believed in that. They went backward to do 2019 search if the PINs were in fact the same or similar or was part of the 2019 PINs and the answer was negative," dagdag niya.

DUMMY PINS

Binigyang diin ni Casquejo na nagkakaroon o gumagamit talaga ang Comelec ng “dummy PINs”. Pero ito aniya ay para lamang sa mga laboratory test bago pa ang aktuwal na turnover ng mga gagamiting makina sa halalan.

“Even in the past elections, magkakaroon po tayo ng dummy pins for the purpose of laboratory test before the actual turnover of machines. Ito po yun for the purposes of lab test lang, just to check the machines' functionability," paliwanag niya.

"Once mag-generate na tayo ng official PINs for the electoral board, it will stay in the server. After ng election, magkakaroon tayo ng stripping of the server. So there is no way that we have an existing PIN numbers in the past or previous elections," dagdag niya.

PANOORIN

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Sabi pa ni Casquejo, walang natitirang data ang server na ginamit ng Comelec. At kung may nakita mang data ay posibleng ang mga “dummy PINs” na ginamit sa laboratory test, mock elections, road show at trainings ng mga guro sa halalan.

'COMELEC DAPAT IPALIWANAG SA PUBLIKO ANG ISYU'

Para sa poll watchdog na Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente), dapat maipaliwanag mabuti ng Comelec sa general public ang isyu ng hacking para mapawi ang espekulasyon sa integridad ng halalan.

Dapat din daw ay mga eksperto mismo ang nagsasalita tungkol dito.

Sabi ni Helen Graido ng Lente, dapat ay klarong naipapaliwanag sa publiko ang isyu ng hacking.

“Kapag hindi naiintindihan ng mga tao ang nangyayari, d'yan nagsisimula ang speculations. Frankly, It should not always be the spokesperson. For example…, for this very specialized type of concerns, it should be the person who would be considered an expert on this matter," ani Graido.

"As required by the law, it should be the data privacy officer of the commission who should be talking and who should be explaining…why is there a crisis, is there really a crisis, and what is the commission doing," sabi niya.

Naging mas maingat sana umano ang Comelec kahit pa sabihin “dummy pins” lang ang pinag-uusapang data.

“Hindi dapat pakalat-kalat yung mga data na yan. Even if they are dummy pins, even if they are just used for training, still it should not be everywhere," sabi niya.

"We’ve been also mentioning the involvement of the three other agencies - involving the NPC, the NBI and the DICT. Actually, their reports should be given higher value than everyone else because these is their expertise," aniya.

"More than the investigation here, It’s also the obligation of the Commission to be able to explain this to the general voting public.”

Ayon sa Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, magkakaroon pa sila ng mga susunod na pagdinig at inaasahang maiimbitahan dito ang Smartmatic at si Art Samaniego ng pahayagang Manila Bulletin na naglabas ng ulat.