Contents of CF cards presented during House poll fraud hearing

A week after brandishing them in public, Quezon City Rep. Mary Ann Susano on Friday was finally able to present contents of two Compact Flash (CF) cards which she claimed were used in poll fraud last May 10. The CF cards contained the audit log of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines, which is a detailed list of operations performed by the machine. Susano was able to open one of the files stored in the CF card during the House hearing on poll fraud on Friday. She was assisted by a certain Alvin Sabile, one of the operators of the Consolidation and Canvassing System (CCS) that was used in elections in Quezon City. Smartmatic admitted that entries in the audit log could be edited, but said changes made to it would only render the CF card unreadable by the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines. "Changing things in the audit log would change the digital signatures so the PCOS machines will not work," Smartmatic president Cesar Flores told reporters after the hearing. Besides the audit log file, Sabile was no longer able to open the remaining files in the card, including the one named "ResTrans." A set of unreadable characters, describe by committee chairman Rep. Teodoro Locsin as "gibberish," was displayed every time he tried opening the files, which according to Smartmatic happens because the file is secured through an encryption. The "ResTrans" file contains each of about 1,000 images of ballots scanned by the machine, Smartmatic said. Flores pointed out that being able to view the files in the cards doesn’t prove anything, let alone their authenticity. The only way to access the contents of the other files is to open them with a decryption software, Flores said, adding genuine cards could only be opened by Smartmatic's software. "[Opening it] still doesn't mean it came from us," Flores stressed, adding that contents of other encrypted files should first be inspected. Last week, Susano presented the cards to the panel, saying the cards contained manipulated results of elections and asked that their contents be made public. House panel to visit Smartmatic warehouse Upon Smartmatic’s invitation, the House committee has already agreed to visit Smartmatic's warehouse in Cabuyao, Laguna on Monday to check whether Susano's CF cards would work in the equipment stored there. Information Techonology (IT) experts would also be allowed to scrutinize software used in the automated election system. All 76,000 CF cards used the last elections were configured at the Cabuyao warehouse. Initially, Susano was opposed to the idea of going to a Smartmatic plant and using its own facilities, suggesting that PCOS machines should instead be brought to the Batasan Pambansa to examine the cards in her possession. "If nobody goes to Cabuyao, then I will accept all of Smartmatic's explanation... If she [Susano] doesn't go, that's going to the garbage can," Teodoro said, pertaining to the two CF cards she had presented in the panel. CF card possession, a policy breach Flores turned the table on Susano and Sabile, saying possession of the cards, if found genuine, would mean that "breach in policy" took place. For its part, the Comelec would first have to complete the investigation on the handful of poll fraud claims before taking action against individuals, including Susano, poll body spokesperson James Jimenez said. "Ano ba ang extent ng kanyang involvement dito. Kung siya ang humingi ng cards that's a different story. Kung binigay lang sa kanya, iba ring story yun," Jimenez said. (What is the extent of her involvement regarding these cards. If she asked for those cards, that’s a different story. And if the cards were just given to her, then that’s also another story.) Almost two weeks into the House investigation, Locsin still refused to render judgment on the testimonies made so far by individuals claiming election fraud. "I'm closing my eyes to it until it's telling us into the face," Locsin said. However, he said he was open to entertaining the possibility of poll fraud happening in the last May 10 elections if testimonies would end up becoming "repetitive to establish a pattern." - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV