logo
Garcia: No ACMs with software version 3.4.0 were used in Eleksyon 2025

Garcia: No ACMs with software version 3.4.0 were used in Eleksyon 2025

GMA Network6 days ago
Commission on Elections Chairman George Garcia on Monday refuted claims that the certified and audited software program in the automated counting machines used in the 2025 midterm elections were substituted from version 3.4.0 to version 3.5.0.
This, as a group of religious, former officials, and civil society organizations earlier filed a complaint before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against him and other officials over their alleged interference with the software used in the May polls.
Garcia said that only the ACMs with 'updated' software version 3.5.0 were used during the elections. Asked if there were any ACMs with software version 3.4.0 utilized, he said: 'Walang walang wala po. Talagang 3.5.0 version tayo.'
(There's really none. We only used the 3.5.0 version.)
'[Ang 3.4.0 version] ang unang version kasi. After ng mga pagbabago, may mga in-adjust and therefore, biglang ngayon nagkaron ng 3.5.0 version. 'Yun na 'yung na-source code review. 'Yan na rin 'yung na-trusted build, 'yan na 'yung na-deposito sa Bangko Sentral. 'Yan na po lahat ang nilagay sa ating mga makina, 'yung version natin na updated na 3.5.0,' he explained.
(The 3.4.0 version was the first version. After the changes and adjustments, we had a 3.5.0 version. That's what underwent the source code review, the trusted build, and the one we deposited at the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The updated version 3.5.0 was also what we put on our machines.)
Garcia said that even the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting could attest that the Comelec only used the ACMs with the 3.5.0 software version during the elections.
''Yung mismong PPCRV, naggawa ng report... Ang sabi nga nila, 'We were there.' Nandoon po sila mismo nung nagkaron ng trusted build, nakita nila mismo na 3.5.0 siya, hindi naman siya 3.4.0,' he said.
(The PPCRV made a report and said that they were there during the conduct of the trusted build. They saw for themselves that it was the 3.5.0 version used, not the 3.4.0.)
'At saka ang pinaka-best evidence sa ganyan, 'yun bang pinadalang resulta mula sa presinto ng mga makina ay tumutugma doon sa lahat ng natanggap sa mga servers? 'Yung PPCRV 99.909% ang accuracy. 'Yun naman ating random manual audit, 99.9972%,' he added.
(And the best evidence to prove that is whether the results sent from the precinct where the machines were matched those received by the servers. The PPCRV said it was 99.909% accurate, while our random manual audit showed 99.9972% accuracy.)
In the complaint, Garcia, six Comelec commissioners, and three other people were named respondents.
They face 110,000 counts of system interference, representing the 110,000 ACMs used in the 2025 elections. They were also charged with another 55,874,700 counts of system interference, representing the 55,874,700 votes they consolidated in Data Center 3.
The complainants said the respondents allegedly violated Paragraph 4, Section 4 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act.
This states that system interference is the 'intentional alteration or reckless hindering or interference with the functioning of a computer or computer network, by inputting, transmitting, deleting, deteriorating, altering, or suppressing computer data or program, electronic document, or electronic data message, without right or authority.' —AOL, GMA Integrated News
For more Eleksyon 2025 related content and updates, visit GMA News Online's Eleksyon 2025 microsite.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Imee Marcos eyes new Omnibus Election Code
Imee Marcos eyes new Omnibus Election Code

GMA Network

timea day ago

  • GMA Network

Imee Marcos eyes new Omnibus Election Code

Voters fill out their ballots at Silang Central Elementary School in Silang, Cavite on Monday, May 12, 2025, for the midterm national and local elections. SANDRA AGUINALDO/ GMA Integrated News Senator Imee Marcos has filed a measure seeking to revise and recodify all the election statutes, paving the way for the New Omnibus Election Code of 2025. In the explanatory note of Senate Bill 425, Marcos, chairman of the Senate committee on electoral reforms and people's participation, said certain provisions of the 1985 Omnibus Election Code are "outrightly ill-suited for modern times." "The [OEC] is well more than three decades old. Since the inception of the OEC, there have been many significant changes in the manner by which elections are conducted," the senator said. "Likewise, regulations and limitations under the OEC have since been proven inadequate to realistically ensure a more level-playing field for candidates," she added. In 2023, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) finished a 964-page draft of proposed amendments to the Omnibus Election Code, according to poll chairman George Garcia. He said the proposed revisions include provisions on the overhaul of the party-list system and changes in campaign finance. The European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission, which sent a delegation to monitor Eleksyon 2025, said in its report that nearly half of the provisions of the Omnibus Election Code, including those for campaign finance and election offenses, are already "outdated." Those provisions, the report said, were already superseded by the 1987 Constitution and by numerous subsequent laws and regulations. BSKE term of office Under Marcos' bill, the Comelec shall have exclusive charge of enforcement and administration of all laws and regulations to the conduct of election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum, and recall for the purpose of ensuring free orderly and honest elections. The measure also provides for the conduct of a hybrid election system—a combination of the automated election system and the manual election system—to ensure transparency and credibility of the electoral processes. This hybrid election system shall be applicable to the May 2028 elections and all national, local, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) polls thereafter. The bill also stated that the term of office of all elected barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (BSKE) officials shall be four years. The BSKE elections will be held on the first Monday of November 2026 and every four years thereafter. No elective barangay official shall also serve for more than three consecutive terms in the same positions, while no elective SK official shall serve for more than one term in the same post. Party-list, substitution The bill also classified the party-list system into: a) political parties or coalition of political parties; and b) sectoral parties or organizations. Each of these classifications shall have 50% of the seats allocated for the party-list. Each registered party, organization, or coalition shall submit to the Comelec a list of names of not less than five nominees from which party-list representatives shall be chosen in case it obtains the required number of votes, together with the certificates of nomination and acceptance of all the nominees in such list. Substitution shall also be allowed for any nominee who dies, becomes physically incapacitated, or has been disqualified. "No substitution shall be allowed for nominees who withdrew their acceptance to the nomination. In the event the list of nominees of a party-list group is exhausted because of the withdrawal of all its nominees, such party, organization, or coalition shall be deemed to have withdrawn its manifestation of intent to participate in the elections," the bill noted. Only a person belonging to and nominated by the same political party may file a certificate of candidacy to replace any official candidate who died, became incapacitated, or was disqualified after the last day of the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs). In all cases of substitution after the period for filing of COCs, the substitute candidate must have the same surname as the candidate being substituted for. Cha-cha The proposed measure also states that a petition for an initiative on the 1987 Constitution must have at least 12% of the total number of registered voters as signatories, of which every legislative district must be represented by at least 3% of the registered voters. Initiative on the Constitution may also be exercised only once every five years. So far in the 20th Congress, only Senator Robin Padilla has filed a resolution seeking to revise the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines through a constitutional convention. — VDV, GMA Integrated News

Regional party UBJP backs special elections for Bangsamoro seats
Regional party UBJP backs special elections for Bangsamoro seats

GMA Network

time2 days ago

  • GMA Network

Regional party UBJP backs special elections for Bangsamoro seats

A regional parliament political party running in the 2025 Bangsamoro elections on Thursday expressed openness on the conduct of a possible special election to fill vacancies for the seven seats originally assigned to Sulu. Members of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP) on Thursday arrived at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Intramuros, Manila to meet with poll chief George Erwin Garcia regarding the status of the first-ever parliamentary elections. UBJP president Alhaj Murad Ebrahim said Garcia reassured them that the Comelec is ready to hold the elections on October 13 despite the pending decision on the reapportionment of the Sulu seats. 'We're very happy that the Chairman officially assured us na talagang matutuloy na ang elections sa October,' said Ebrahim. The Bangsamoro polls was reset from May 12 to October 13, 2025 after President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. in February signed into law the measure postponing the first-ever parliamentary elections. The suspension came months after the Supreme Court (SC), in September 2024, upheld the validity of the Bangsamoro Organic Law but declared that Sulu was not part of BARMM. The Court denied motions seeking the reversal of the decision in November 2024. The SC ruling necessitated the redistribution of the seven vacated seats originally allocated to Sulu under the Bangsamoro Electoral Code. However, the Bangsamoro government has yet to issue a decision on the reallocation. 'We will try our best na ma-comply namin, but 'yun na nga kung hindi na talaga ma-comply… baka magkaroon nalang ng special elections,' Ebrahim added. (We will try our best to comply, but if we cannot comply, there may be special elections.) Mohagher Iqbal, member of the parliament and UBJP vice-president, said the report may be submitted and deliberated by the parliament next week. 'In terms of legislation, we are ready for the committee report and once na ma-submit sa parliament, syempre id-discuss ang committee report, there will be an interpellation at pagbo-botohan. Every district, kailangan pag-botohan yan eh. We cannot lobby together and decide once and for all. Kailangan isa-isahin po yan,' said Iqbal. (In terms of legislation, we are ready for the committee report and once submitted, there will be interpellation and voting. That is for every district. We cannot lobby together and decide once and for all.) 'We can expect by next week, may official submission sa parliament ang mags-start deliberations,' he said. (We can expect that by next week, there will be an official submission.) The Comelec previously said it will continue with the preparations for the BARMM polls with 73 seats. —LDF, GMA Integrated News

Comelec begins local source code review for BARMM polls
Comelec begins local source code review for BARMM polls

GMA Network

time2 days ago

  • GMA Network

Comelec begins local source code review for BARMM polls

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday kicked off the local source code review (LSCR) for the automated election system (AES) in connection with the October 13 Bangsamoro parliamentary elections. This developed days after the Comelec started the trusted build generation for the election system to include amendments aligned with the provisions of the Bangsamoro Election Code. 'The Bangsamoro is just a continuation of the May 12, 2025 NLE, but then again, Section 14 of the Bangsamoro Election Code mandates that the ballots should include not only the names but alsoa logo of the political party and pictures of the candidates or district parliamentary representative. That's why may babaguhin sa system natin (there will be changes to our system),' said Comelec Executive Director Teopisto Elnas Jr. 'With that, uulitin natin itong proseso mula sa trusted build, customization, field test, mock elections, certification ng TEC as well as international certification,' he added. (With that, we'll repeat the process from trusted build, customization, field test, mock elections, TEC certification, and international certification.) According to the Comelec, the LSCR started on July 17 at 11 a.m. at Circuit Makati. It also urged all accredited reviewers and representatives from the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE), and regional parliamentary political parties to participate in the LSCR. The poll body earlier explained the source codes serve as the 'brain' that will instruct the automated counting machines (ACMs) to execute their functions during the election day. Following its review, the notes and observations from the LSCR will be submitted to the international certifying entity for the AES's international certification. The Poll Automation Law states that 'once an AES technology is selected for implementation, the Commission shall promptly make the source code of that technology available and open to any interested party or group [that] may conduct their own review.'' —VBL, GMA Integrated News

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store