Sotto seeks inquiry on alleged ‘untraceable’ vote transmission from VCMs

ANTIPOLO CITY, Rizal - Senate President Vicente Sotto III seeks another Joint Congressional Oversight Committee (JCOC) inquiry, this time to look into the alleged “untraceable” transmission of election results from vote counting machines (VCMs) due to the change of network technology from 3G to 4G.

Citing information from the Senate’s Information Technology (IT) expert Atty. Ivan Uy, who was the representative of the chamber in a recent JCOC hearing, Sotto expressed his worry over the possible effects this development would have on the May 9 elections.

Sotto is running for vice president in the upcoming polls.

“I was just informed by the IT representative of the Senate in the JCOC that Comelec has given Smartmatic the award for the transmission of votes and they changed [it] from 3G to 4G. Okay ‘yan dahil (because it is an) upgrade but lumalabas (it appears that) because of the upgrading, we cannot track where the transmissions will be coming na VCM,” Sotto said in a press conference.

“Unlike before, in the previous elections, whenever the transmission from the VCM is made from the municipal level or the Comelec itself, it’s traceable kung saan galing na (which) VCM (it will be coming from) ‘yon. Because of this protocol na ginagawa ngayon with Smartmatic ng Comelec, hindi mate-trace kung saang (we won’t be able to trace) VCM galling,” he added.

Sotto said Uy raised this concern as he was “really worried” as this meant that the election results may come from different parts of the country.

“That's very dangerous… Now, according to Atty. Ivan Uy, when he brought up the issue with Comelec, ang sabi ng Comelec they will consult DICT about it,” Sotto said.

“My issue is that I think we have to be transparent on this particular issue-- Smarmatic and Comelec. We have to look at this very, very closely. It’s very dangerous,” he added.

With this information, Sotto said that he will call the attention of Senator Imee Marcos, the co-chairperson of the JCOC and also the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation.

“As we speak, my legislative staff is already calling [Comelec] Commissioner George Garcia for an explanation… but after the press con, I’m going to call Senator Imee and I will ask her to call for another hearing ASAP,” he said.

“My work in the Senate is a priority. So this is part of my work,” he added.

For his part, Senator Panfilo Lacson, Sotto’s running-mate, said this issue should be scrutinized further as this might compromise the electoral system.

“There's more than meets the eye here and we really should look deeper into this issue because this is vital. Puwedeng (It could be a) game-changer, pwedeng-- ano ba ‘to (it could be) deliberate? It is too early or premature to question if there is a motive behind this or you know, just the same, kailangan talagang tingnan natin (we need to ask) why the sudden change doon sa protocol,” Lacson said.

Asked whether this change of protocol would result in electoral fraud, Sotto said: “Sobrang dali. Hindi mata-trace kung sino nagpapadala ng votes e.”

(It’s very easy because you won’t be able to trace where the votes are coming from.)

In a text message shared with reporters, Sotto said Marcos already agreed with him that this matter should be investigated.

“Talked to Imee. She is supporting my call and worried about cybersecurity,” he said.

Marcos’ brother, former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., is running for the presidency in Eleksyon 2022.

GMA News Online reached out to Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez for the poll body’s comment on Sotto’s claim but he has yet to respond as of posting time. — DVM, GMA News