60 poll machines stored in Antipolo residence ordered moved to the Senate

Sixty voting machines stored inside an Antipolo City residence were ordered transferred to the Philippine Senate, a day after some 2000 civilians swarmed the house owing to poll fraud allegations. Officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) "have already spoken with Senate President Enrile to have it transferred to the Senate," Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal told reporters. The move will ensure that the machines will be "safeguarded and will not be tinkered with, tampered with by unauthorized individuals," he added. "What is important is that the machines should not be touched or the boxes should not be opened because [they were] sealed by the Board of Election Inspectors." The commission has not allowed the earlier transport of the machines “in the spirit of transparency," Larrazabal said. “My understanding why [the machines were] not moved from Antipolo was because there might be a concern in the spirit of transparency. You kept it there so people will see that nothing is happening, but unfortunately this happened," Larrazabal said. The Comelec and Smartmatic earlier cleared that the technician was only doing his job securing the poll machines while waiting for these to be picked up and delivered to Smartmatic’s central warehouse. For their part, three presidential candidates who earlier sought the transfer of the machines to the Senate alleged electoral fraud, citing initial findings from their own inspections. “We opened a PCOS machine yesterday and there is evidence of fraud that's why we want to make sure that the remaining 58 machines are intact and untouched so that under the proper investigation with the Senate committee, proper yung procedure to uncover the elements [of fraud]," presidential candidate Nicanor Perlas said in a separate interview with reporters. Perlas was accompanied by fellow presidential bets Sen. Jamby Madrigal, and JC De Los Reyes who trooped to the Comelec office in Manila to obtain a copy of the Comelec resolution authorizing the machines’ transfer. “We have conclusive evidence that may fraud ang PCOS machines [sa Antipolo]. We [opened] two [of them].. We are now decoding some of the encrypted data sa machines to reveal the actual voting pattern. We discovered that it has transmitted results on May 9 and 10, and on May 11 for that area, it was still transmitting results," Perlas said in a separate briefing earlier. Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor, for his part, also cited massive protests from the city’s local candidates, which he said do not usually happen, in an earlier briefing also attended by Perlas, Madrigal, and De Los Reyes. “Sa QC hindi nangyayari itong nagkakaroon ng eleksyon at nagkakagulo ang mga kandidato. Normally, nagcocongratulate then tahimik na. For the first time nagtakbuhan sa akin, all complaining about the same issues. Ngayon lang umabot ng more than 80 percent ang votes sa QC. Usually 65 percent lang," Defensor said. (In Quezon City, elections are not marked by candidates themselves being confused. Normally, they congratulate the winners. But for the first time, they all came to me, complaining about the same issues. During the recent elections, more than 80 percent of votes were questioned. Usually, the level is just at 65 percent.) Similar sentiments were shared by detained Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim’s camp, who ran and eventually conceded in the senatorial race. “From the precinct and municipal levels parang may discrepancy. I don’t believe in your own hometown in Nueva Vizcaya, you’re number 17. We also do our internal surveys, kahit papaano it’s highly credible. We believe we have the numbers," Lim’s spokesperson Belle Enriquez said during the briefing. (It appears that there are discrepancies in the precinct and municipal levels.) Larrazabal, for his part, urged candidates who felt they had been cheated to file election protests before the poll body. “They can file a petition with the Comelec. The petition will be heard, and all the evidence they submit will be considered and carefully studied by the commission," he said. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV