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Rep. Locsin blows top during House hearing


A lawmaker lost his cool on Thursday after he was told in a hearing that supposed time stamp errors on election returns from automated voting machines were "relative" and "unforeseen." Makati City Rep. Teodoro "Teddy Boy" Locsin Jr., chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Reforms and Suffrage, lost his temper and uttered expletives during a hearing after Smartmatic-TIM, which supplied the voting equipment, was prompted to make the admission. "Do you realize what fools you have made of legislators who pushed for this law? Your assurance was that if fraud is committed, we will be able to trace it... Now you’re telling me this?" said an irate Locsin.


The time and date stamps on ERs indicate when polls were closed and election results were transmitted from a specific precinct. Smartmatic-Asia representatives tried to pacify Locsin — a former newspaper publisher known for his scathing columns — by saying that errors on the time stamp on ERs were just "isolated cases," but the lawmaker refused to accept the explanation. "In that case, your system has no security. That’s ridiculous!" he added. The argument ensued after former Environment Secretary Lito Atienza, who lost his mayoralty bid in Manila, reported cases of wrong times and dates printed on ERs produced by automated counting machines in some of the city’s precincts last May 10. "Manila is still in a state of shock... This only shows that election returns were manufactured somewhere else and just read by the machine on election day," Atienza said during the hearing. Biliran Rep. Glenn Chong, who likewise lost his reelection bid, meanwhile reported that some ERs from his province had time stamps saying May 10, 7:45 a.m., which he said, indicated that results were already transmitted only minutes after polls opened on May 10. Interviewed after the hearing, Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Jose Melo said that although the poll body will have to discuss the issue with Smartmatic, the supposed time errors on ERs will definitely not affect the results of the polls. "We would have to talk to Smartmatic regarding this matter. Maari ngang isolated cases lamang ito... Sa aking palagay, hindi naman ito makakaapekto sa resulta ng halalan," he said. - RJAB Jr./RSJ, GMANews.TV
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