by
Christine F. Herrera, Sara Susanne D. Fabunan and Joel Zurbano
The Liberal Party’s vice presidential bet
Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo was the beneficiary of “manipulated, anomalous and abnormal data”
that appeared shortly after a new script was uploaded to the transparency
server that was reporting unofficial election results on May 9, a study by two
university professors said.
Professors Antonio Contreras of De La Salle
University and Rogelio Quevedo of the University of the Philippines on Monday
urged the Commission on Elections to conduct an independent “forensic
investigation” into the entire automated election system (AES) after a
Smartmatic technician uploaded the script that altered the system’s hash code,
apparently without authorization.
Although Smartmatic project director Marlon
Garcia said the changes were “cosmetic,” the professors said the unofficial
count from the transparency server showed “a linear line” that favored Robredo
in the vice presidential race after the script was introduced.
At the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel, Contreras and
Quevedo emphasized that anomalies in the system occurred after the hash code
was changed.
Contreras said a straight line increase in a
candidate’s vote count was not normal, especially when results from many areas
were being transmitted at random.
Breakfast forum. From left, Antonio Contreras
, De La Salle University professor,
Rogelio Quevado, a former member of the Comelec Advisory Council, law
professor of the UP College of Law and an IT expert, and investment banker Francisco Yuseco, discuss the recent elections during the
Samahang Plaridel Kapihan sa Manila Hotel Media Forum on Monday. LINO
SANTOS
“There should have been an up and down spikes
depending on the areas coming in but in the vice presidential race, there was
only one line upwards and then after the 80-percent transmission rate, Senator
[Ferdinand] Marcos [Jr. slowed down] in a linear [way] that was really
abnormal,” Contreras said.
It was during the hours after the script was
introduced that Marcos’ one-million-vote lead was overtaken, Contreras and
Quevedo said.
Quevedo said the introduction of the script
triggered a change in the system that altered the results.
“I could categorically state that it is not
accurate [to say] that a mere change in the hash codes will not result in
cheating,” Quevedo said.
Asked who was the beneficiary of the abnormal
data in the elections results, Contreras said: “It is obviously Robredo because
she was the one who took the lead shortly after the hash codes were changed.”
Quevedo, also a member of the Comelec
Advisory Council, said even the supposed investigation made by the poll
watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting showing that the system
change did not cause any modification in the results was “merely superficial
and self-serving.”
Quevedo added the PPCRV was not qualified to
make such a finding.
“I am asserting that PPCRV is not in any way
in a position to make that finding. They could not say there was no anomaly
because they were present when that interference in the transparency server was
made and they allowed it. So PPCRV’s investigation is just self-serving. It is
just exonerating itself,” Quevedo said.
Contreras said the linear increase in
Robredo’s votes could only be the result of manipulated data.
“We didn’t just study Marcos and Robredo, but
all the vice presidential candidates,” Contreras said in Filipino. “All of them
showed a straight line. This would not have happened to the transmission if
another program had not been introduced.”
Any increases, he added would not be in a
straight line.
Quevedo of the UP College of Law, and
Contreras a professor of political science at DLSU, debunked the claim of the
Comelec, the PPCRV and Smartmatic that the changing of the system, which in
turn changed the hash codes, was merely cosmetic, saying “no IT expert in his
right mind would dismiss it as a minor change.”
Quevedo said as a lawyer whose expertise is
IT, he has strong belief that the change of the “?” to “ñ” is a trigger that
caused some changes in the entire system.
Last week, Garcia admitted having ordered the
change in the hash code as he said a new script had to be introduced to change
the “?” to “ñ” in the names of some candidates such as Roy Señeres for
president and Sergio Osmeña and Getulio Napeñas for senator.
But Quevedo pointed out that the mere change
in the hash code during the transmission period meant “something was not
right.”
Although he refused to say there was cheating
in the transmission, Quevedo said the Comelec should order a forensic
investigation to erase any doubts created by the unauthorized change in the
system’s code.
“If Comelec really wants to project itself as
the body in charge of the election, that it is transparent and not biased, then
it should immediately order the forensic investigation of the transmission and
the election results,” he said.
A forensic investigation would examine the
system’s historical data and determine what changes were made to the system,
said Quevedo, a top executive and lawyer for Smart Communications Inc. - More on The Standard
