Is there something more in Lim’s ‘China election sabotage expose’?

Comelec Commissioiner Christian Robert Lim

Comelec Commissioiner Christian Robert Lim

I really hope that Election Commissioner Christian Robert Lim’s allegation that China is out to sabotage the 2016 elections is just a burst of irresponsibility that has been in abundance in this administration.

What is more worrisome is if the sinister scenario that Lim raised is a camouflage for an operation just like what the operators of Gloria Arroyo did in the 2004 elections to ensure her “winning” the presidency against Fernando Poe, Jr.

Lim was one of the lawyers of the 2010 Aquino-Roxas team and it is well known that Mar Roxas, the Liberal Party’s presidential candidates in the 2016 elections, pushed for his appointment in the Commission on Elections.

At the budget hearing for the Comelec last week at the House of Representatives, Lim revealed they “have received intelligence reports that there may be an attempt to sabotage the elections by China… I feel personally that the biggest threat to the 2016 elections is China.”

He said the information was relayed to him by a commissioner who had a contact in the military which prompted the Commission to request Smartmatic, the supplier of the ballot-reading Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines, to transfer to Taiwan the production of new 79,000 optical mark reader (OMR) units to be used in the 2016 elections.

Without commenting on the security aspect, Smartmatic agreed to Comelec’s request.

Cesar Flores, president of Smartmatic Asia Pacific said, “We have agreed to the said request despite the fact that such a transfer will force us to shoulder an additional cost amounting to 5 percent of the total contract price. Moreover, although both facilities in China and Taiwan operate under the strictest international standards and both are capable of manufacturing the machines to specifications, we respect the Comelec’s decision and have therefore acceded to the request.”

It’s an information so important that involves the country’s national security and yet Lim said he didn’t inform the President about it.

That’s why, when asked about Lim’s expose, Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the President was not aware of any plot by China to sabotage next year’s elections.

“It is best that Comelec explain this matter as we have no information on the point mentioned by Commissioner Lim in the House hearing, “ he said.

It’s not only Malacanang that was clueless about what the Comelec Commissioner told the public about something that has grave security and foreign relations implications.

The military, which is the supposedly the source of the information, knew nothing about it.

AFP spokesperson Restituto Padilla issued this statement:”This is the first time that the AFP received information on the matter and after checking with our concerned staff offices, we found out there is no report in our files to substantiate this. Hence, we could not comment on an issue we know nothing about.”

The Chinese Embassy in Manila, as expected, dismissed Lim’s expose as “ totally groundless and a sheer fabrication.”

“China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference into other countries’ internal affairs, ” Li Lingxao, the embassy spokesperson said.

Lim related his concern to the suit by the Philippines against China over the West Philippine Sea territorial conflict before the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal. He fears that if the Philippines wins the case, China might decide on trade embargo.

“So any product made in China will not be coming in the Philippines. Walang machine. There’s a lot of possibilities,” Lim said.

No one can accuse Lim of not thinking far ahead and about all possibilities.

We imagine Lim also has thought of the possibility that Mar Roxas,his former principal, would not get enough votes to realize his dream of becoming the next Philippine president.

Is there something more in Lim’s ‘China election sabotage expose’?

Comelec Commissioiner Christian Robert Lim

Comelec Commissioiner Christian Robert Lim

I really hope that Election Commissioner Christian Robert Lim’s allegation that China is out to sabotage the 2016 elections is just a burst of irresponsibility that has been in abundance in this administration.

What is more worrisome is if the sinister scenario that Lim raised is a camouflage for an operation just like what the operators of Gloria Arroyo did in the 2004 elections to ensure her “winning” the presidency against Fernando Poe, Jr.

Lim was one of the lawyers of the 2010 Aquino-Roxas team and it is well known that Mar Roxas, the Liberal Party’s presidential candidates in the 2016 elections, pushed for his appointment in the Commission on Elections.

At the budget hearing for the Comelec last week at the House of Representatives, Lim revealed they “have received intelligence reports that there may be an attempt to sabotage the elections by China… I feel personally that the biggest threat to the 2016 elections is China.”

He said the information was relayed to him by a commissioner who had a contact in the military which prompted the Commission to request Smartmatic, the supplier of the ballot-reading Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines, to transfer to Taiwan the production of new 79,000 optical mark reader (OMR) units to be used in the 2016 elections.

Without commenting on the security aspect, Smartmatic agreed to Comelec’s request.

Cesar Flores, president of Smartmatic Asia Pacific said, “We have agreed to the said request despite the fact that such a transfer will force us to shoulder an additional cost amounting to 5 percent of the total contract price. Moreover, although both facilities in China and Taiwan operate under the strictest international standards and both are capable of manufacturing the machines to specifications, we respect the Comelec’s decision and have therefore acceded to the request.”

It’s an information so important that involves the country’s national security and yet Lim said he didn’t inform the President about it.

That’s why, when asked about Lim’s expose, Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the President was not aware of any plot by China to sabotage next year’s elections.

“It is best that Comelec explain this matter as we have no information on the point mentioned by Commissioner Lim in the House hearing, “ he said.

It’s not only Malacanang that was clueless about what the Comelec Commissioner told the public about something that has grave security and foreign relations implications.

The military, which is the supposedly the source of the information, knew nothing about it.

AFP spokesperson Restituto Padilla issued this statement:”This is the first time that the AFP received information on the matter and after checking with our concerned staff offices, we found out there is no report in our files to substantiate this. Hence, we could not comment on an issue we know nothing about.”

The Chinese Embassy in Manila, as expected, dismissed Lim’s expose as “ totally groundless and a sheer fabrication.”

“China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference into other countries’ internal affairs, ” Li Lingxao, the embassy spokesperson said.

Lim related his concern to the suit by the Philippines against China over the West Philippine Sea territorial conflict before the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal. He fears that if the Philippines wins the case, China might decide on trade embargo.

“So any product made in China will not be coming in the Philippines. Walang machine. There’s a lot of possibilities,” Lim said.

No one can accuse Lim of not thinking far ahead and about all possibilities.

We imagine Lim also has thought of the possibility that Mar Roxas,his former principal, would not get enough votes to realize his dream of becoming the next Philippine president.

Is there something more in Lim’s ‘China election sabotage expose’?

Comelec Commissioiner Christian Robert Lim

Comelec Commissioiner Christian Robert Lim

I really hope that Election Commissioner Christian Robert Lim’s allegation that China is out to sabotage the 2016 elections is just a burst of irresponsibility that has been in abundance in this administration.

What is more worrisome is if the sinister scenario that Lim raised is a camouflage for an operation just like what the operators of Gloria Arroyo did in the 2004 elections to ensure her “winning” the presidency against Fernando Poe, Jr.

Lim was one of the lawyers of the 2010 Aquino-Roxas team and it is well known that Mar Roxas, the Liberal Party’s presidential candidates in the 2016 elections, pushed for his appointment in the Commission on Elections.

At the budget hearing for the Comelec last week at the House of Representatives, Lim revealed they “have received intelligence reports that there may be an attempt to sabotage the elections by China… I feel personally that the biggest threat to the 2016 elections is China.”

He said the information was relayed to him by a commissioner who had a contact in the military which prompted the Commission to request Smartmatic, the supplier of the ballot-reading Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines, to transfer to Taiwan the production of new 79,000 optical mark reader (OMR) units to be used in the 2016 elections.

Without commenting on the security aspect, Smartmatic agreed to Comelec’s request.

Cesar Flores, president of Smartmatic Asia Pacific said, “We have agreed to the said request despite the fact that such a transfer will force us to shoulder an additional cost amounting to 5 percent of the total contract price. Moreover, although both facilities in China and Taiwan operate under the strictest international standards and both are capable of manufacturing the machines to specifications, we respect the Comelec’s decision and have therefore acceded to the request.”

It’s an information so important that involves the country’s national security and yet Lim said he didn’t inform the President about it.

That’s why, when asked about Lim’s expose, Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the President was not aware of any plot by China to sabotage next year’s elections.

“It is best that Comelec explain this matter as we have no information on the point mentioned by Commissioner Lim in the House hearing, “ he said.

It’s not only Malacanang that was clueless about what the Comelec Commissioner told the public about something that has grave security and foreign relations implications.

The military, which is the supposedly the source of the information, knew nothing about it.

AFP spokesperson Restituto Padilla issued this statement:”This is the first time that the AFP received information on the matter and after checking with our concerned staff offices, we found out there is no report in our files to substantiate this. Hence, we could not comment on an issue we know nothing about.”

The Chinese Embassy in Manila, as expected, dismissed Lim’s expose as “ totally groundless and a sheer fabrication.”

“China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference into other countries’ internal affairs, ” Li Lingxao, the embassy spokesperson said.

Lim related his concern to the suit by the Philippines against China over the West Philippine Sea territorial conflict before the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal. He fears that if the Philippines wins the case, China might decide on trade embargo.

“So any product made in China will not be coming in the Philippines. Walang machine. There’s a lot of possibilities,” Lim said.

No one can accuse Lim of not thinking far ahead and about all possibilities.

We imagine Lim also has thought of the possibility that Mar Roxas,his former principal, would not get enough votes to realize his dream of becoming the next Philippine president.

COMELEC officially rolls out ‘iRehistro’

The Commission of Election has recently launched the online portal called iRehistro, the agencies online initiative which sole purpose is to ease up some of the burden of both new and existing voters registration/validation process.

The site, which is only currently available for voters in the NCR region, provides voters with a list of forms which corresponds to their needs. This include an application form for new voters, as well as various forms for existing voters who wishes to reactivated their record or update some of their information such as name and address.

iRehistro

Once the voter filled out the information needed on the application form they chose, they can immediately submit it online using iRehistro and print three (3) copies of the form using a legal-sized bond paper.

All that’s left to do after that is to head over to a local COMELEC office during the scheduled appointment (which the voter chose) and bring all the necessary documents for the application. During the appointment date, iRehistro users will be prioritize for biometric capture which should cut some of the time required to finish the process.

Application form

According to Commissioner Al Pareno, the agency is aiming to accomplish over 100,000 application forms through its new online facility. Furthermore, he claims that COMELEC plans to roll out the service outside of the NCR Region so other voters can also take advantage of the benefits that iRehistro has to offer.

Lastly, iRehistro will also be available for voters living in Madrid, Spain after the agency formally launched the service at the Philippine Embassy on the 3rd of November this year.

Source | Via

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Guide: A crash-course on PCOS Machines

In line with the upcoming Senatorial election, we decided to give you a short preview of the controversial automated tool that will be used to count our vote –the Precinct Count Optical Scan machine or commonly known as PCOS machine.

Background

The first time that our country embarked on an electronic automated election was during the ARMM general election in 2008. This served as a dry-run for the then upcoming Presidential election which took place two years after.

pcos

In the first automated election, the Commission of Election used two different machines to count votes; Smartmatic-Sahi DRE (Direct Recording Electronic) voting machine and AITI’s (AVANTE International Technology, Inc.) Optical Mark Reader. The former uses a touchscreen display which allows voters to just press an area of the screen to cast their vote and is designed to cater to PWDs and illiterate voters.

AITI’s OMR, on the other hand, requires the use of a ballot to which it will read a vote from. This is similar to Smartmatic’s PCOS machine which was used during the 2010 Presidential election.

Setting up the PCOS machine

In the most basic sense, a PCOS machine works similarly to a machine used in local sweepstakes betting stations. It’ll only read shaded portions of a specially-tailored paper, records the information and then transmit to a server that pools/counts it.

Of course, it’s not as simple as the one used by PCSO (Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office) for the lottery. Smartmatic’s PCOS machine is equipped with several features that limit the possibility of tainting the integrity of the election result. Let’s start with powering the machine.

pcos security key

Turning on the machine alone requires a three-step verification process which involves inserting a Security Key (as seen in the image above), and typing two different passwords that are given to two different voting officials. If one enters a wrong password or in the event that 1 of the 3 security features of the machine are not setup properly, the machine will not startup. The same process is required if changes have to be done in the machine’s configuration and when turning off the machine.

Voting process

Preferably, each able voter should be given a blank ballot upon entering the venue. Reason why we said preferably is because a known electoral fraud involves giving a voter a pre-filled ballot. Anyway, let’s just assume that we’re living in a perfect world with 0% of election-related anomalies, shall we?

A voter then needs to shade a blank portion that corresponds to their desired candidate. Once done, the voter needs to insert the ballot in to the machine. The machine then will give a confirmation about the validity of the ballot which will be displayed on the machine’s LCD screen.

pcos philippines

If everything goes accordingly, the machine will save the information on two different CF(Compact Flash) cards. The second card will serve as a backup storage in the event that the first one fails. At the end of the polling day, a paper similar to a receipt is then printed out by the PCOS machine’s built-in printer. This will display the total number of ballots in the vault and the results. These information are then counter-checked based on the digits projected on the machines LCD screen.

Validation and Transmission

Once the information validated, the voting official will then initiate the transmission of the data stored in the CF cards. It will be transmitted to three different servers; to an accredited political party, to the media and to COMELEC.

The transmission can be done in two way; Wired and Wirelessly. In urban areas where network signals are abundant, the information are transmitted through the use of provisioned SIM card which is similar to sending SMS.

bgan

On the other hand, in rural areas where signal is weak, the data is passed on to a device called BGAN or Broadband Global Area Network through a LAN connection between the PCOS machine and BGAN. The good thing about the BGAN device is that it doesn’t rely on a telco’s cell site to transmit the data to the three servers. Instead, it utilizes stationery satellites that are capable of transmitting information from anywhere in the world.

In the past, it will take 2-3 months before the voting result is finalized, but through the help of this PCOS machines, the turnaround time is reduced down to two to three days.

Additional Features

Because of the magnitude and complexity of a national election, the manufacturer includes additional feature to the machine that lessens the possibility of an electoral fraud. Below are some of the additional features of the PCOS machines:

• PCOS machines are equipped with a battery that is rated to last for 12-16 hours. This acts as preventive measure in the event of a power outage in the election day.
• On top of the battery, COMELEC also provides power generator to keep the machine running in case the built-in battery is drained.
• The CF cards used in a PCOS machine are sealed.
• Data stored in the CF cards has a 256-bit encryption.
• If the two stated mode of transmission failed, a certified PCOS technician can personally bring the CF cards to the municipal servers.

Conclusion

While we don’t share COMELEC’s confidence with the PCOS machines (esp. after seeing numerous failed mock elections), we have to admit that the department has exerted a commendable amount of effort to ensure that the machines will function as it should.

In my opinion, we cannot totally eliminate the flaws from the machine, after all there will still be human intervention involve in operating it. My main concern in the upcoming election has actually little to do with the machine, but with the mindset that the voters have in keeping the sanctity of their votes.

At the end of the day, if there are still voters who would whole-heartedly sell their votes to crappy politicians, a PCOS machine in tip-top shape won’t do us and our country any good.

{Image Credit 1}, {Image Credit 2}

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