Comelec’s Garcia hopes NBI will finish probe after raid of ex-Smartmatic employee’s house

Commission on Elections Commissioner George Garcia on Wednesday hoped that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will immediately complete its investigation on the alleged election data breach following the raid on the residence of a former Smartmatic employee linked to the supposed hacking incident.

"In view of this service of search warrant, hopefully, ma-complete na ang buong investigation ng NBI. Our legal remedies [or] options rest on this report," Garcia said, according to GMA News' Tina Panganiban-Perez's tweet.

On Tuesday, the NBI Cybercrime Division conducted a search operation at the residence of Ricardo Argana, a former employee of Smartmatic--the Comelec's technology provider.

Authorities found his smartphone and some SD cards hidden in the room’s ceiling during the search.

They also dismantled the Wi-Fi router that Argana used to have access to gadgets of other five IT suspects for six days.

NBI-CCD chief Victor Lorenzo said that Argana’s contract with Smartmatic was only for six months, but part of his job was to determine the possible glitches in the machines.

Smartmatic’s laptop has been returned, but Argana already encrypted it so it won't be subject for forensic examination, according to the NBI.

Authorities are now examining the cellphone, Wi-Fi router, and SD cards found at the suspect’s house.

A total of 720 counts of unlawful access were filed against Argana. He is, however, still at large.

Comelec chairperson Saidamen Pangarungan earlier said Smartmatic has confirmed that a “data leak” occurred in its system, but it was unrelated to Eleksyon 2022.

On March 24, Comelec said it will review its contract with Smartmatic, Inc. after the reported security breach on the system of the service provider for the 2022 elections. — Hana Bordey/RSJ, GMA News