Primary CF cards found in PCOS machines from Antipolo

Information technology experts found a primary compact flash (CF) card in one of the six precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines, from the 60 machines earlier recovered from an Antipolo residence, inspected at the Senate on Friday. This constitutes a violation of handling procedures, according to defeated presidential candidate Nicanor Perlas, who said the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) are required to surrender primary CF cards — used to store voting results in the May 10 polls — to the Commission on Elections immediately after the transmission of election returns is completed. At least one of the remaining PCOS machines that have yet to be inspected also contains a primary CF card, Perlas added. Upon orders from the National Board of Canvassers, the Senate's IT department initially opened six of the 60 precinct count optical scan machines to determine if they were used for poll fraud, as alleged by defeated presidential candidates Jamby Madrigal and Perlas. Several IT experts including Al Bitangcol — a specialist on cybercrime forensics — witnessed the inspection of the machines in the Senate along with Perlas and lawyers representing Madrigal. "The fact that there were at least two primary cards in the machines, it means that a procedure was violated because a primary card should not have been there in the first place," Perlas said. IT experts also found out that only one of the six counting machines contained thermal paper with the Comelec logo, while the others had regular thermal paper rolls. Mario Antonio Sulit, head of the Senate's Information technology department, agreed with Perlas that procedures were not followed. Sulit’s team is scheduled to visit Smartmatic's warehouse in Cabuyao to check the CF card that was found in one of the machines. An initial report will be filed by Monday, Sulit said. The inspection on Friday only involved the cursory examination of the PCOS machine’s physical components. Checking the program used to run them failed to push through because the experts could not get hold of the software needed to perform the operation. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez, who also witnessed the inspection, said the source code used in the automated polls is in storage at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The source code may be retrieved only if the Comelec authorizes it in an en banc resolution, Jimenez said. The matter may be discussed on Monday, he added. Jimenez said the forensic analysis can go on even without the source code yet. "We need to move forward," he stressed. But Perlas said the entire forensic analysis would become a "meaningless exercise" if only the hardware is scrutinized. In response, Jimenez suggested that another code be generated that the inspecting team can use while waiting for approval for the release of the source code. Non-disclosure The examination of the PCOS machines was stalled after the Philippine Computer Society — one of the entities observing the analysis — refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Smartmatic-Asia Pacific, supplier of the 76,000 PCOS machines used in the May 10 automated polls, wanted everyone observing the inspection to sign the agreement to protect the company’s trade secrets. On Monday, Smartmatic asked Quezon City Rep. Mary Ann Susano to sign the same agreement when the House committee probing alleged poll fraud visited the firm's warehouse in Cabuyao, Laguna. Susano — who has said she obtained two Compact Flash cards allegedly used in poll manipulation — refused to sign the agreement. During Friday's forensic analysis, Nelson Selis of the Philippine Computer Society said there was no need for them to sign the non-disclosure deal, saying the public has the right to know the details about Smartmatic's software. Perlas seconded Selis' explanation and said merely inspecting the hardware or the physical component of the cards does not require them to sign a non-disclosure agreement. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV