Untested equipment raises questions about poll results' accuracy

Some election equipment were untested and uncertified, raising questions regarding their ability to produce accurate results, a watchdog said, citing a Commission on Elections (Comelec) Technical Evaluation Committee report. Among those that were not submitted for testing and certification included central, back-up central, and election system DNS (domain name system) servers, including one for the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) modem firmware, the ballot production tool, and the public website, the group Kontradaya said. Also known as a "phonebook" for the Internet, the DNS assigns domain names on the internet and identifies associated networking equipment and locates these devices worldwide. “The whole AES [automated election system] rests on many subsystems which should work together during Election Day.. [considering all these,] how sure will we be of the result of the final tally when it will all be presented at the national canvassing?" Prof. Giovanni Tapang of Kontradaya said in a briefing on Monday. Sec. 11 of the Automated Election Law (RA 9369) requires the testing and certification of the automated election system’s (AES) software and hardware components to ensure that these are functioning properly. “The failure to certify the KBP, central, and back-up central servers opens them to the risk of data manipulation or remote access manipulation, which would be crucial in the canvassing of votes..We don’t know if they would work exactly the Comelec wanted them to," Computer Professionals Union (CPU) national coordinator Rick Bahague said in the same briefing. From the PCOS machines, election results would be transmitted to the servers for the national canvassing. But Kontradaya also pointed out that having remote access to the servers “makes the system vulnerable to the injection of malicious database commands." The public website, which is expected to offer updated precinct-level data including poll watchdog groups, might be unable to support high traffic on election day, the group added. The uncertified DNS server of the website, which would resolve its domain name to its corresponding IP address, might render the website inaccessible all in all, Kontradaya added. The Comelec, however, were unfazed by the group’s claims. “Remember on Election Day immediately after the end of the voting, we print out copies of the ERs, we transmit the results.. So right then and there, in the polling precinct, people know the results. You can compare," Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal told reporters on Monday. Spokesman James Jimenez also defended the poll body’s decision to activate the website only a day before May 10. “Just think about it for a while," he said. "That public website will be containing information that many people will rely on in terms of knowing what went down on Election Day. Supposing we were to go live with that website before Election Day, how long do you think would it take for hackers to try to break that site?" “The reason we’re only going live a day before the elections is precisely to prevent that occurrence. While it is crucial in terms of public information, it does not affect the outcome of the elections. There are numerous parallel channels by which you can identify the winners and losers in the elections so I think the danger they (Kontra Daya) are trying to avoid has been avoided precisely because we’ve done this the way we do," Jimenez added. ‘Unlawful’ elections Other members of the watchdog group also expressed alarm over the latest concerns raised on the conduct of the automated polls. “Dito [sa servers] ibabato lahat ng resulta ng eleksyon, pero hindi nila sinertepika. Icoconduct ang eleksyon na ito in an unlawful manner. Does that mean unlawful din ang results? Sa dinami-dami ng pera at panahon na ibinuhos para sa eleksyong ito, ganito pa ang kalalabasan," NBN-ZTE scandal whistleblower Rodolfo ‘Jun’ Lozada said. In case of election fraud because of the new concerns on the AES, Kontradaya convenors — which include members of the Catholic Church — vowed they would take protests to the streets, reacting to a ranking Catholic official’s announcement junking calls for people power uprising. People power “Kapag nagkaroon ng fraud, kailangang may protesta galing sa mamamayan. If this will lead to a hold-over of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s term, we would not let it happen. Enough is enough. It will end in a people power, that is the right of the people," Fr. Joe Dizon said. Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales earlier said that calls for a people power were irresponsible. “With all due respect to Cardinal Rosales, I vehemently disagree. It does not show irresponsibility. Kahit na sino ka, basta nakita mong nalabag ang karapatan mo, kailangang iprotesta mo. Kung ayaw nilang sumama sa amin, okay lang. Basta pupunta kami," Sr. Mary John Mananzan, also of Kontradaya, said. Retired Lingayen archbishop Oscar Cruz, for his part, also expressed alarm over Defense Chief Norberto Gonzales’ earlier statements on the possibility of having a transitional government, a 30-percent failure of elections, and that cheaters were already doing the rounds to rig the May 10 poll results, insinuating a possible holdover of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s term. “Walang kakibo-kibo, smile dito, smile doon, pero wala [siyang] kibo. Wala siyang sinasabi about the imperfections [of the system]. Pero pag sinama-sama ninyo iyong sinabi ni Defense Sec. Norberto Gonzales.. that’s why there is an indecent hurry to name the next chief justice — to resolve the unlawfulness so that it will become lawful," Cruz said. (He’s been taciturn, just smiling here and there. He’s not making any comments about eh imperfections of the system. But if you put together what Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales is saying..) “That’s the chief of the National Security Council and secretary of National Defense talking," Cruz warned. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV