Crisis of Democracy Series 02 - E-Garci, Part Two
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Garci noon, e-Garci naman ngayon?
Hackers dangerously compromise integrity of 2010 elections
Part Two of a Statement for the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association (ARBA) for the Solidarity for
Sovereignty People’s Congress, Club Filipino, June 3, 2010, by ARBA Spokesperson Ado Paglinawan
What is becoming more and more self-evident is that there has been a failure of elections.
This is the gist of the report of the Global Filipino Nation (GFN) that cited serious violation of the law by
Comelec, among others Republic Act 8792, and various breaches of security in order to accommodate
speed rather than promote accuracy and integrity of the end count. (GPN is a non-partisan international
organization of offshore and onshore Filipinos is 30 countries.)
So why are we racing to proclaim a president and vice president that may have been elected under highly
suspicious circumstances?
No less than the Comelec itself had said that it would hold a post-election evaluation of the automated
system, the need and urgency for which has been heightened following intense public criticism of
Smartmatic after it was discovered a week before the polls that the compact flash (CF) cards used in the
precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines were defective.
By admission of James Jimenez, Comelec spokesperson himself, the general public may have to wait: “An
evaluation which first entails gathering of data, processing them and then their evaluation might take two to
three months.” No less than Smartmatic president Cesar Flores had also earlier admitted that they were at
fault for the “misconfiguration”. They also owned responsibility for the technology-related problems and have
promised not to evade liabilities that may ensue from their shortcomings.
But while the Comelec and Smartmatic are concerned only with each other’s compliance of the Php 7.2
billion contract that they have entered, the Filipino people is more interested in the integrity of the election
process. On trial here is not just Smartmatic, but the entire automated electoral system.
The Congress committee headed by Teodoro Locsin Jr. is more concerned with the probity of the
testimonies it is hearing formally and information being submitted to it informally, ostensibly by a masked
whistleblower, the Filipino people is more interested if it is true or not as “Koala Bear” has volunteered that
massive nationwide cheating has been made possible three ways: 1) physical tampering of the ballot itself
2) manipulation of the compact flash (CF) card 3) and hacking the transmission system.
The Makati congressman himself has announced that the Election Returns (ERs), on which the certificate of
canvass (COCs) are based for proclaiming the president and the vice president, had no digital signatures
as defined by the country’s e-Commerce law (Republic Act 8792) and thus are void.
It is elementary in computing 101 that a human must always be behind any action of a machine. You cannot
enter any email facility without your user ID and code, in the same way that any bank’s ATM will not talk to you
if in addition to your card, you cannot enter a correct passcode.
By law, people transacting business with computers must also have verifiability of their transaction in the
same way. Any email you send enters into your send box and any ATM gives you a receipt. If an ATM cannot
provide you a receipt, it asks for your permission first to proceed with your business.
Everyone who voted was not given a receipt nor asked if the votes that the PCOS machine counted were the
ones he voted for.
Worse, election returns did not bear any signature of the board of election inspectors (BEI). The Comelec
itself exempted them from doing so, in gross violation of the law as Comelec cannot amend nor interpret the
law. Our Constitution empowers only Congress and the Supreme Court for those functions.
So on what basis could a national canvass stand on? On a mountain of illegal paper chase?
In 2004, just to satisfy the ruling elite and its synarchist sponsors, a fraudulently-elected president was
railroaded and proclaimed despite a nationwide uproar against the failed process. The result has been a
disastrous six-year term that has graduated most of our people from poverty to hunger. Na-Garci tayo noon,
papa e-Garci ba tayo ngayon?
We cannot risk even the thought of another six-years of that same-old, same-old situation where not only our
national, but also our local leaders, has been accommodated in a wholesale fashion, without a clear
mandate and under questionable grounds.
One of the crucial issues that the new leadership of this country will tackle is the agrarian reform. This is why
ARBA now takes issue.
This is also why we share the fear of former President Joseph Estrada that we cannot allow ourselves to be
led by a president and a vice-president who have been chosen by Smartmatic and its hackers and not the
Filipino people.
A definite NO to a digital president! A define NO to a failed election that have no winners and losers. The only
loser in the 2010 elections is the Filipino people and our democracy.
All positions that are supposed to be filled up by the fraudulent 2010 elections shall be deemed vacant by
June 30. Since no one was legally elected, this fact will send all elective positions from councilors up to the
presidency, unmanned and in transition until the next elections, excepting only 12 Senators elected in 2007.
This hiatus is explosive!
This dangerous and lawless adventure by the Comelec and the outgoing administration has thrown our
country into a virtual anarchy.
The criminals who have conspired to assassinate the State and rob the sovereignty of the Filipino people
must hang!
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