Campaign promises

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – I remember Alfredo Lam-en Sr. the late congressman and governor of Mountain Province when campaigning.
    One time in the tourist town of Sagada, the charismatic lawyer said: “No ibotos yo sak-en, sapatusak nan manok, sementuek nan baneng (If you will vote for me, I will make your chicken wear shoes, I will pave your rice paddies with cement).
    Of course, people knew he was joking and they just loved the way he talked, reason why people attended his rallies.
    ***
This time, the Commission on Elections is now saying a promise to voting constituents from candidates may already be considered vote-buying.
    If Lam-en were alive today, I could see him saying promises are promises and the Comelec can always promise anything too, like fixing allegations of electoral fraud involving Smart Magic. 
    You see, Comelec Commissioner George Irwin Garcia told a press briefing last week that promising something even without giving anything is already punishable by the law.
    “Kahit simpleng promise lang po kahit na wala ka talagang binibigay (A simple promise is despite the absence of providing something) is already vote buying,” he stated.
    Garcia also explained that when talking about giving things, it refers to objects of value. He mentioned that for example, if he were to give small candy to an individual, it wouldn’t be considered as vote buying.
    He also added that any substantial consideration whether in cash or in kind is considered vote-buying.
    Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said things of nominal value, very small value, for example, ballpens, notepads, stickers that they can use for their cars among others are normally not considered indicators of vote buying
    The public was also reminded of going through due process in order for consequences of vote buying to attach. Garcia said allegations will not stand scrutiny of a curious court.
    Take note some political aspirants. Never promise anything to your wife. She may not vote for you anyway. Don’t also promise to give the moon to voters. One day, you will find somebody from government knocking at your door delivering a summons letter saying the moon is owned by God.
    ***
Senate Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Wednesday again stood by his claim that supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo, his rival for the presidency, are infiltrated by communists.
    The Dept. of Justice, however, was quick to twit that there’s nothing wrong with it.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said no law is violated if left-leaning groups endorse candidates or political parties in 2022 national and local elections.
    The justice chief said what’s unlawful is when such groups commit acts of violence “in the guise of exercising political rights.” So why the red-tagging by government authorities on cause-oriented groups?
    Guevarra’s statement was in reaction to the red-baiting of Leni supporters by several politicians, including Ping, linking the throng of people who have attended massive rallies for Leni with the Communist Party of the Philippines.
 “    There’s nothing unlawful for any groups associated with the CPP/NPA to support any political party or individual in the forthcoming elections. It is when they commit acts of violence to sow terror and destabilize public order in the guise of exercising their political rights that will prompt the anti-terrorism council to take action,” Guevarra said.
    He clarified the DoJ does not have any legal basis to initiate a formal investigation on such claims.
    ***
Sen. Imee Marcos and Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Thursday said a hackers’ group had obtained confidential election data, which was first reported early this year, from Smartmatic Inc., the service provider of the country’s automated election system.
    Marcos, chair of the joint congressional oversight committee (JCOC) on the elections, said an unidentified Smartmatic employee had allowed the hackers to copy data from a laptop issued by the company.
    “We can confirm that there was indeed a security breach in the Smartmatic operations,” she told reporters.
    Sotto said he moved to disclose some details revealed during the executive session.
    Sotto said people linked to the alleged data breach were now considered “persons of interest” by authorities.
    The closed-door session was part of a JCOC inquiry into the data breach first reported by the Manila Bulletin in early January.
    At that time, the Bulletin reported its Technews team received a tip from a “source” about a “hacking” at the Comelec and discovered hackers downloaded more than 60 gigabytes of data which it said, “could possibly affect the May 2022 elections.”
    The stolen data reportedly included usernames and PINs (personal identification numbers) of vote-counting machines (VCMs).
    ***
The Comelec questioned parts of the Bulletin report, particularly the allegedly downloaded usernames and PINs of the VCMs, saying “such information still does not exist in Comelec systems,” because the files that included them had not yet been completed.
    Comelec Commissioner Garcia said they would wait for the report of the National Bureau of Investigation to ascertain whether there was really a security breach.
    He said NBI representatives were present at Thursday’s JCOC meeting and gave a briefing on its probe.
    “They said it’s not yet finished, they are still verifying things and they have to summon people,” Garcia told reporters.
    ***
Marcos, who also chairs the Senate committee on electoral reforms, said the unidentified Smartmatic employee’s laptop was accessed by members of a group calling itself XSOX, which she suspected to be a “criminal hacking syndicate.”
    The group has a Facebook page where it posted some of the data, including personal information on Comelec personnel and Smartmatic operations which it claimed to have obtained.
    “It may not be technically hacking. However, we feel that it compromises the processes and operations of Smartmatic in very serious ways,” Marcos said.
    “What worries me is that there were some Smartmatic procedures, their ledgers, photos of their offices, contact persons in the Comelec, including details on who plays golf, or who drinks red wine,” she said.
    Marcos said she was alarmed that Smartmatic gave contractual employees access to “very confidential” poll data.
Smartmatic representative Christopher Ocampo denied there was a “personal data breach” in Smartmatic operations “that could possibly affect the 2022 national and local elections.”
    The company provides the automated election system but is not involved in the processing or storing of personal data of any voter for the 2022 polls, he said.
    Marcos said the JCOC was not yet making any conclusions pending the reports from the NBI, the Department of Information and Communications Technology, the National Privacy Commission, and from Smartmatic’s own “administrative investigation.”
    Marcos said it may still be premature to state how the data breach would impact the May 9 elections.
Barry Gutierrez, a spokesperson for Vice President Leni Robredo and chief rival of Marcos Jr., said all they wanted was a fair election but he urged the Comelec to “fully investigate and take appropriate action.”
    ***
Here is a security reminder from the Bank of Philippine Islands: The BPI will never ask to verify or divulge your personal information such as user account ID, password, OTP, account number, credit card number and CCV/CVC via email link, text message or phone call. If you receive a call or email asking you to provide any confidential information, do not engage. Immediately change your online banking password and report the incident to help@bpi.com.ph or 889-10000.
BPI emails are sent from no reply@communications.bpi.com.ph.
    Always verify the sender's email address. 

 

No more size prohibitions on poll materials in private
properties/ poll manual count

Alfred Dizon 

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – As the campaign season for local candidates started last week, the Commission on Elections said there are no more prohibitions on the size of posters, tarpaulins and other campaign materials of poll candidates in private places.
    The Comelec national office sent this advisory to its various election offices nationwide, as it geared up for the start of the local campaign period on Friday.
    Now candidates and their supporters can put up life-size posters at a private places and the Comelec will not take them down.
    However, election propaganda materials that are placed in public places, specifically Comelec designated common poster areas, must still meet the standard sizes as prescribed by the poll body.
    The Comelec appealed to candidates to help the Comelec in taking down their own campaign materials that are posted on electric poles, trees, and other similar public places that are not designated by the poll body as common poster areas. 
    ***
But all over Benguet, canvas tents have been installed in areas which voters could easily see in bold letters bearing the name of Caretaker Congressman Eric Yap from the south who is running for the same post.        
    Supporters of Itogon mayor-lawyer Victorio Palangdan who is running for Congress and local folks have been criticizing the tents saying it was okay to have these in some areas since it is raining every now and then so they can have shelter.
    Problem, they said, is that Yap’s name should not be inscribed on the tents if these were bought with taxpayers’ money.
Will somebody from Yap’s camp or the Comelec explain this? You see, our friendly, perennially drunk roadside philosopher is getting fired up over these.
    For starters, he said the names of contenders for the same post should also inscribe their names on the tents, not only Yap, if these are common poster areas.
                    ***
Even if manual counting in the past took as long as one day to finish, the old system of tallying votes is better in that it eliminates questions on the election results, the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) said last week as it pushed for changes in the May 2022 elections, including a reversion to manual vote counting at precincts, citing the need to ensure transparency.
    Namfrel president Gus Lagman discredited the automated electoral system in place, telling reporters that manipulation of the results is possible.
    “When it’s automated, no one can see how [the votes are] counted. There are no witnesses to the counting. When you shade your ballot, you feed it, you don’t know what happens,” he said.
    Even if manual counting in the past took as long as one day to finish, Lagman said the old system of tallying votes is better in that it eliminates questions on election results.
    Likewise, the poll watchdog pressed that the final testing and sealing of vote-counting machines should be completed three days before election day, rather than the present one-week prior.
    Shortening the period will reduce the likelihood of the machines being tampered with, he said.
    “The closer it is to election day, the safer. Because maybe there’s no time to change, right?” Lagman said, apparently referring to the program and source codes that run the machines.
    Lagman also wanted resolved issues such as the tapping of F2 Logistics, a firm said to be owned by Davao-based tycoon Dennis Uy, in the delivery of election equipment.
    Uy was recently photographed with presidential contender Bongbong Marcos. He was also one of President Rodrigo Duterte’s top 2016 campaign donors.
    “Cause of concern because if there is delicadeza, that should not be done. So that people don’t have doubts. It’s hard to resist that doubt,” Lagman said.