Imee Marcos to look at other possible Smartmatic employees involved in ‘breach’ issue
Senator Imee Marcos on Sunday said other Smartmatic employees who might be possibly involved in the alleged security breach of the poll technology provider’s system will be investigated.
In a radio interview, Marcos, who chairs the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms, said that they will determine if there are others who worked alongside the Smartmatic employee who was recently placed under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for involvement in the supposed infringement on Smartmatic's data.
“Ito ‘yung mga tinitignan natin kasi kung may isang empleyado, baka meron pang iba. It’s very important na malaman natin kung sino-sino. Baka planted lahat ‘yan eh. Malay natin kung sino gumawa niyan,” she said.
(These are the ones we are looking at because if there is one employee, there might be others. It’s very important that we know who they are. Maybe it was all planted, and we don’t know who did that.)
She thus asked Smartmatic to be wary of their employees, asking why they would allow even the contractual ones to have access to their vital election information.
“Itong hamak na contractual employee, labas pasok at ninakaw pa ‘yung mga data nila. Ito ‘yung nakakakaba dito na isang contractual employee na apparently halos hindi nila vinet, hindi nila kilala gaano, eh may access sa confidential information,” she added.
(This mere contractual employee got in and out and even stole their data. This is what makes me nervous because a contractual employee who apparently they hardly know, has access to confidential information.)
Marcos earlier claimed that Smartmatic data, including personal information, ledgers, office photos, and contact persons in the Commission on Elections (Comelec), might have been hacked by a syndicate.
Source code
Meanwhile, in a Super Radyo dzBB interview on Sunday, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said the NBI should tap its cyber experts and software programmers to check the claim if a supposed “source code” was posted on Facebook.
“May mga lapses kasi sila (Comelec). May mga pagdududa talaga kasi 40 million ballots na-print behind closed doors. Bawal ‘yun. Ang SD cards, na-configure na, ibig sabihin noon na-loadan na ng software behind closed doors na wala ring nakatingin. Bawal din po ‘yun. Maraming lapses talaga ang Comelec,” he said.
(The Comelec has lapses, there are doubts about them because 40 million ballots were printed behind closed doors. That’s not allowed. The SD cards were already configured, meaning they were loaded with software behind closed doors without anyone even looking. That is also forbidden. The Comelec really has many lapses.)
Marcos, whose brother, former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., is running for president in the upcoming May 9 polls, said that no candidates want to be “Smartmagicked,” thus they investigate such matters.
“Natatakot tayo sa dayaan. Makikita mo naman sa Senate, wala talagang gusto na ma-Smartmagic na kandidato. Kahit ‘yung kapatid ko, si Senator Sotto, si Senator Koko, iba-iba ‘yung kandidato namin pero lahat talaga ayaw na ayaw na ma-Smartmagic na naman,” she said.
(We are afraid of the elections being manipulated. As you can see in the Senate, no candidate really wants to be a Smartmagicked. Even my brother, Senator Sotto, Senator Koko, we have different candidates but everyone really doesn't want to be Smartmagicked again.)
Asked how to avoid this ‘Smartmagic’ in the upcoming elections, Marcos said, “Ang gagawin natin talaga ay tututukan itong imbestigasyon na ito. Hahayaan muna natin na ang NBI, CICC (Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center), at DICT (Department of Information and Communications) na gumawa ng thorough investigation.”
(What we will really do is focus on this investigation. We will first allow the NBI, CICC, and DICT to conduct a thorough investigation.)
Marcos said if needed, she will call for another Senate hearing to discuss such matters anew.
Pimentel echoed this, saying that the hearings are also the Senate’s way of monitoring the actions taken by the poll body.
“Actually ang hearing dapat hindi tapusin. Dapat tuloy-tuloy kasi this is our means of monitoring and overseeing ‘yung actions po ng Comelec. Pagdating ng eleksyon, Comelec ang supreme. Pero it doesn't mean even if you’re supreme, bawal ka nang tanungin, bawal ka nang magpaliwanag sa mga kilos mo,” Pimentel said.
(Actually the hearings should not end. These should be continued because these are our means of monitoring and overseeing the actions of the Comelec. When the election comes, the Comelec is supreme. But it doesn’t mean that even if you’re supreme, you are no longer allowed to be asked, you are no longer allowed to explain your actions.)
In January, the Comelec assured the public that election data for Eleksyon 2022 were not hacked, disputing a report by the Manila Bulletin that poll data — network diagrams, IP addresses, list of all privileged users, domain admin credentials, among others — were hacked. —KG, GMA News