Nelson Morales

Comelec ready to face congressional probe on AES certification

Article (news)

Johnson Manabat

ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) expressed willingness to face a possible congressional investigation on the certification of the Automated Election System (AES) to be used for the 2025 National and Local Elections (NLE) this coming May.Comelec Chairman George Garcia explained that it is not within the control of the commission to speed-up the issuance of certification for the AES because it is from an independent international certifying entity.“Yung certification ay role ng TEC. Technical Evaluation Committee ay isang independent entity. Hindi under Comelec, DOST, DICT. Nakabase ang TEC Certification sa International certification ng International certification body. Tapos na ang hardware and software matagal na yan. Pati transmission tapos na din yun. This is the 1st time na may 3rd system, which is OVCs. Yung Internet voting, tinatapos na lang kaya hindi pa maissue ang certification,” Garcia told the media.He believes they still have ample time for the AES certification before the midterm polls.“Sa ngayon, nasa pinakamagandang pwesto pa. March 4 pa lang. Wag mag-alala lahat sapagkat ang trusted build ng OVCs ay mangyayari ngayong linggo. Hopefully bago matapos buwan na ito ang certification ng TEC. Guarantee ko po sa inyo, tapos na ang sa makina at transmission,”According to Garcia, the 90 days stated in the law for the said certification is just a directory for the commission.Garcia argued that in previous elections, the certifications were issued in some cases, a few weeks or even days before the actual election day.“Kung ganun argumento, yang batas ay directory. Kung ganun po, ang Elections ng 2010, 2013 hanggang 2022, violation na pala lahat yun... Kung talagang hard and fast rule ang 3 months, lahat pala ng nangyari since 2010... Pero lahat naman naging maayos ang election,” Garcia said.The poll body hopes to deposit the source code of the AES to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on either on March 11 or 12.“Ang sabi ng BSP, kundi 11 or 12 kasi availability ng BSP governor…ang plano, darating Friday or Saturday mag-conduct na ng trusted build. Pagtapos nun, bago mag 11 madeposit natin lahat ng source code ng 3,” Garcia added.“As early as February, tapos na po yun machines at transmission. Sealed na din source code. Iniintay na lang natin OVCs. Ang issue na lang, may inadjust sa OVCS. Example dagdag na ID, expired passport, seaman&#x27;s book, Philsys, pinabago na natin,” Garcia explained.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) expressed willingness to face a possible congressional investigation on the certification of the Automated Election System (AES) to be used for the 2025 National and Local Elections (NLE) this coming May.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) expressed willingness to face a possible congressional investigation on the certification of the Automated Election System (AES) to be used for the 2025 National and Local Elections (NLE) this coming May.