CF cards reportedly used for poll fraud left unchecked on lack of equipment

The lawmaker who presented two compact flash cards alleged to have been used for poll fraud during the May 10 elections has agreed to have their contents inspected by the House committee doing the probe. However, the lack of equipment prevented Quezon City Rep. Mary Ann Susano from doing so. When proceedings of the House Commmittee on Electoral Reform and Suffrage began on Wednesday, she asked committee head Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. if he wanted to have the cards opened. Locsin answered in the affirmative, but Susano asked: "If am going to test now [the cards], what will be the outcome if we find out today [their authenticity]?" "I'll shoot him," Locsin said in jest, referring to Smartmatic president for Asia Pacific Cesar Flores, who was invited to the hearing to answer technical questions about the counting machines used in the automated elections. Susano stood up and gamely left the room, supposedly to prepare the equipment to be used in opening the cards. But when she came back during the latter part of the hearing, Locsin asked whether she was ready to access the cards’ contents. However, the female lawmaker said she had one problem. "I need a machine. I need a machine," Susano stressed, referring to the precinct scan optical scan (PCOS) machine in which CF cards are inserted. But when Smartmatic officials told her that CF cards could be accessed using a regular laptop, Susano replied, "But I also need a card reader." Locsin asked members of the committee if they could lend Susano a card reader or a laptop capable of reading the CF cards. But no one was able to produce any of the equipment. "If that's the case, we will open the cards during the resumption of this hearing," said Locsin before the hearing ended. The hearing will resume on Friday. During a previous committee hearing, Susano surprised everyone when she produced two CF cards allegedly to have been pulled out from a counting machine. At that time, Flores refused to touch the cards, saying only authorized officials are allowed to possess those cards. Susano refused to reveal from whom and how she obtained the cards. On Wednesday's hearing, Locsin said the authenticity of the cards could be easily verified once you open them, since cards used in the May 10 automated polls contain encryption. "If we open the cards, and it doesn't ask for a code, then we know it's fake. If it asks for one, at least we are one step closer to saying that it could probably be genuine," Locsin said. Paranaque Rep. Roilo Golez said he saw no point in opening the CF cards, saying that even if the cards were genuine, "it would not lead to anything" because Susano should never have obtained them in the first place. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV