PCOS’ backdoor console for fraud entry discovered

PCOS’ backdoor console for fraud entry discovered

By Danessa O. Rivera and Charlie V. Manalo

06/20/2010

In a sign of bad faith, Smartmatic, the technical provider and partner of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), failed to disclose that its precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines had console ports or “secret backdoors” which anyone could open without the need for passwords or usernames to gain complete control over the units’ operating system and obviously could be used for manipulating votes.

This backdoor port gives anyone the opportunity to either modify, erase, save or overwrite files and programs in the PCOS machines, an IT expert yesterday disclosed during a media forum at the Sulo Hotel.

At the same time, in another forum held at the Manila Polo Club in Makati yesterday, LRA Pacific operations director Jonathan Manalang disclosed that there were several concerns that were seemed highly questionable. Manalang said some concerns were on the proper inventory of the PCOS machines.

As he and his team called technicians in different precincts to confirm if they had received the right number of PCOS machines, they were informed that some received less than the designated number of PCOS machine while some received more.

They reported this matter to Smartmatic officials but all the tech provider officials said was “they will handle it.”

Manalang added that certain PCOS machines only allowed a certain number of votes, an issue that became a concern, when some precinct polling places received the wrong PCOS machines.

LRA Pacific was the outsourcing company hired by Smartmatic to handle the technical support during the elections.

Manalang served as a witness during the hearings regarding election fraud at the House of Representatives on June 30 but this was cut short a few days before the last day of hearing by Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. who headed the congressional committee.

Contrary to assertions of Smartmatic that its PCOS machines are tamper-proof, an IT expert, Roberto Verzola, yesterday bared that the

voting machines used in the May 10 polls contained a backdoor entry which can enable anyone to access their data, overwrite them or use them for any purpose one may deem beneficial to his intention.

At the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo, Obet Verzola, the IT expert, said investigators conducting a forensic examination on the 60 PCOS machines found in the possession of a Smartmatic technican in Antipolo City, had discovered a backdoor or portal at the back of the machines, which is called a console.

Verzola said that this console can be used by anyone simply by accessing it through a cable and once access has been gained, the “intruder” can easily access the data, overwrite them or use the data for whatever purposes desired.

Through the consul, Verzola added that the hacker can easily erase all data including the audit trail which Smartmatic claims is a fool-proof mechanism to detect if the machines had been hacked.

Smartmatic’s chief in the Philippines, Cesar Flores, during a congressional hearing admitted in the face of evidence, after denying it earlier, that the audit log entries can be altered, that compact flash (CF) cards can be reprogrammed as desired, and that votes can be rescanned, erased or added to another candidate.

Although not concluding the machines might have indeed been hacked and programs over-ridden and overwritten, the IT expert said the console only substantiate claims that the PCOS machines are not tamper-proof as Smartmatic claims them to be and the probability of the results having been compromised is relatively high.

Making matters worse, Verzola said, is that Smartmatic, did not disclose the existence of the console.

“We don’t know what other secrets these PCOS machines have,” said Verzola. “If there still things we don’t know about the PCOS machines, Smartmatic should now come forward and bare them all.”

At the moment, Flores is selling Comelec and the public the idea of the poll body buying the PCOS machines—all 82,600 of them—for P2 billion, claiming that these machines can be used for the next 10 years, and many more automated elections to come. It is doubted whether Smartmatic would disclose anything negative.

Comelec apparently is also keen on the idea of purchasing these easy to tamper machines, despite all the discoveries of a fraudulent automated election.

But with the discovery, the IT expert reiterated his call for the Comelec to expedite its audit on the 76,000 PCOS on where they have been brought after the May 10 elections, inventory the CF cards, and release the results of the random manual it has conducted.

Verzola stressed the three issues should be resolved immediately as they could be used to determine whether the election results as based on the election results transmitted by the PCOS machines are credible or if they had been hacked.

“But up to now, the Comelec has yet to release results of its audit,” said Verzola.

The IT expert also reiterated his call to upload the images of the ballots captured by the PCOS machines in the Comelec so that people can also help in determining whether fraud was committed in the country’s first automated polls.

“Uploading these JPEG images of the ballots cast in the May 10 polls could also be used to audit the votes. And it could be easily done as these images are contained in the CF cards,” Verzola stated.

Verzola also noted that PCOS operating system “permanently records an application log only which is saved to an audit log file in the removable CF card. The operating system log is saved not to the CF card but to volatile memory also called a RAM disk whose contents are lost everytime the PCOS machine is turned off. Thus, intrusions through this secret backdoor leave no record for forensic examination. In addition, intruders can also overwrite a recent audit log file with an old copy, allowing them to hide their tracks from the application log as well.”

“You can erase any trace of intrusion with this backdoor access,” Verzola said.

To access the PCOS operating system, he said, anyone can merely connect the console port to any computer using a special cable.

Verzola asked why Smartmatic, government’s poll automation contractor, did not inform Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) about the console ports.

“ASTI said those are only output ports for getting data from the machine,” he said.

Meanwhile, a privately-funded group yesterday said that there was massive fraud in the first electronic elections held May 10 as the Comelec and Congress violated the laws in the electoral process and in the canvassing votes which call into question the very legality and constitutionality of the entire elections and the proclamation process that followed.

The Movement for Integrity in Governance and Honesty and Truth in the May 2010 Elections (MIGHTe2010) said in its first public forum that the Comelec ignored and set aside many vital requirements of the Automated Election System Law (Republic Act 9369) while the Congress violated constitutional provisions governing the canvassing of votes for president and vice president.

Sen. Jamby Madrigal said the proclamation of the elected officials was illegal on grounds that there was no Congress joint session held as election returns were counted.

This was seconded by Lawyer Homobono Adaza, saying that the canvassing of votes must be done through a joint session by the Upper and Lower House with all members present that should be done publicly.

In the forum, several witnesses presented how the fraud in the elections occurred. Philippine Computer Society Director Edmundo “Toti” Casiño said the election returns were not signed by election inspectors, which was a mandate as stated in the Batas Pambansa (BP) 881, questioning the legality of the votes.

He also said that some of the election returns had results with different dates other than May 10 which could have been “premature scanning of ballots.”

Another witness, Pastor Ronald Tan, a vice mayor candidate in the city of Tagaytay, said election fraud did not start in the transmission of election returns but it started in the voters’ list, saying that the “Comelec must be put to task and be held accountable.”

He also said three days before the elections, he was offered 10 Compact Flash (CF) cards in exchange for the amount of P5 million by a Smartmatic Information Technology (IT) personnel and a Comelec employee to get a sure win in the elections.

MIGHTe2010 is a non-partisan gathering of civil society organizations, political groups, business entrepreneurs, and concerned citizens which include the Philippine Computer Society, Bangon Pilipinas, Ang Kapatiran Party, Anti-Trapo Movement of the Philippines, Brigada Berde, Bantay Garci 2010, Mahal Ko Bayan Ko, Center for Alternative Development Initiatives, Buklod National Political Party,Quezon City Political Coaltion for Truth, Para Sa Bansa Movement, Buklod Political Party, Atripeda and many more.

MIGHT e2010 has three goals namely to unravel the truth surrounding the May 2010 elections; to restore honesty and truth in our electoral processes; and to advance moral integrity and true service in the governance of our country.

The Daily Tribune Without Fear or Favor

PMP bares proof of massive fraud

Charlie V. Manalo

05/16/2010

The camp of former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada showed documents yesterday which it will use to support allegations of massive electronic fraud in the country’s first automated elections held last May 10 some showing pre-programmed votes that are dated way ahead of election day.

At a press briefing held at Estrada’s Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) headquarters in Mandaluyong, party campaign manager Ernesto Maceda presented photo copies of election returns signed by members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs), but were dated before the May 10 polls.

Maceda said the documents, furnished to him by former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, showed election returns in Manila dated not May 10 but April 28, May 4 and May 9, to support allegations of poll pre-programming.

PMP senatorial candidate Francisco Tatad added the May 10 elections involved a scam so enormous it could make the “Hello Garci” scandal of 2004 a mere child’s play as it involved electronically pre-programmed results, prompting him to call on all the candidates, winners and

losers, to join him and file a petition for a constitutional action with the possibility of seeking the nullification of the election results.

“I am calling on all losing and winning candidates to join me for the possibility of filing a petition for constitutional action for the a possibility of nullifying the election results,” said Tatad citing a precedent in Germany wherein the German High Court declared unconstitutional the E-votes cast.

Tatad said that he would file an impeachment case against Comelec for the deliberate actions done to prevent voters from acquiring valuable information with respect to their votes.

Maceda also claimed receiving reports of anomalies from various provinces.He said in Compostela town in Cebu, the tally in the Certificates of Canvass did not match 34 election returns.

“The integrity of the PCOS machines have been compromised because it has produced falsified electronic documents such as: the tally of the ERs did not match with the COCs, and there were incomplete print logs,” Maceda said, quoting Compostela mayoral candidate Ritchie Wagas. Maceda noted that the first falsified electronic documents were discovered in Compostela, Cebu, wherein he said the election returns in several precincts did not match the certificates of canvass because the flashcards were tampered.

Malacañang, meanwhile, said it will be the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) discretion on what to do with the controversies hounding the agency related to the alleged electronic poll fraud.

The Center for People Empowerment in Governance (Cenpeg) also issued a statement Friday urging the poll body to stop destroying the defective compact flash cards as these were deemed valuable in assessing the recent poll exercises.

Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar said thee Palace is deferring to the poll body’s discretion in answering all questions being hurled to its officials by the agency concerned. Olivar, however, said insofar as Malacañang is concerned, it was satisfied with how Comelec officials handled the recent poll automation.

Maceda said that even Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia who was expecting a winning margin of not less than half-a-million votes but managed to win by only around 60,000 votes over her rival, has declared the election results to be unbelievable.

In Davao City, Speaker Prospero Nograles, who ran for the mayoralty race, claimed the election was rigged.

In Quezon City, losing mayoralty candidate, Rep. Annie Rose Susano and winning congressional bet Jorge Banal reported cases of pre-shaded ballots.

In Angono, Rizal, the Tribune personally witness pre-shaded ballots in favor of Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III being distributed to voters.

“The same complaint was aired by former congressman and congressional candidate Jacinto Paras in the first district of Negros Oriental; among other candidates,” Maceda added.

In Antipolo City, Maceda said 60 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines were in the custody of a technician while nine other PCOS machines were reported missing in Maggao. Iloilo.

In Manila, Maceda said Atienza had also been claiming that the random manual audit had shown huge discrepancies with the PCOS printout. In one precinct alone, a difference of 200 votes was credited to Mayor Alfredo Lim.

“And this is probably the reason why Erap lost heavily in Manila, particularly in Tondo which is one of his strong bailiwicks,” Maceda said.

“And who would imagine Erap losing in San Juan?,” he added.

The PMP campaign manager said he is still at a lost why the Commission on Elections (Comelec) had not done anything to resolve the issue.

“The Comelec, in its own admission, said that 195 clustered precincts, covering 150,000 voters, had faulty transmissions involving faulty flash cards,” said Maceda. “And while it had done practically nothing to resolve the issue, Comelec chairman Jose Melo was quick to on TV and announce the results as if he was the one mandated by law to proclaim the winners,” he said.

Maceda also expressed alarm over reports that the Comelec had started destroying flashcards from certain areas.

“If the Comelec so much as attempts to destroy the flashcards, which will be the key to determining these anomalies, they would be the principal suspect in this massive electoral fraud,” Maceda said.

Maceda stressed the importance of the random manual counts now that these reports of discrepancies in results are surfacing.

“The slow pace in the delivery of the results of the random manual counts is highly suspicious. It is almost as if they are hiding something,” Maceda said.

Tatad questioned, among others the disabling of the built-in ultra-violet detection capability of the PCOS which was meant to prevent the use of ballots without the proper UV markings; the disabling of a feature that allowed the voter to see that the machine was reading his vote right when the votes are cast and the Comelec’s general instruction to the Board of Election
Inspectors (BEI) not to digitally sign the data to be transmitted from the PCOS machine because the digital signature generated by Smartmatic for the inspectors was, according to the Comelec, already encoded into the machine, effectively putting the function of the digital signature generation, transmission and confirmation in the hands of one entity, Smartmatic, without any independent body to check it.

Tatad, describing the elections as Hocus PCOS, expressed his frustration as a candidate and called on all other candidates who feel that they were likewise cheated as well as those who may have won but know that the votes they garnered are not probable, to join hands in this effort to unfurl the massive electronic electoral cheating that just happened.

Tatad clarified, however, that he was speaking not as an Estrada representative but for himself.

“I want to make it clear that in this effort I am not representing President Estrada but speaking as an aggrieved candidate. I feel that my rights as a candidate have been trampled upon,” Tatad said. “My problem now is not whether to claim victory or accept defeat but my problem is how to understand what happened.”

“This Hocus PCOS makes the Garci scandal look like child’s play,” he said.

In the same press briefing, Estrada’s lawyer George Garcia also questioned the hasty delivery of reconfigured flash cards the week prior to the elections as logistically improbable.

“Were the 76,000 flash cards really returned and reconfigured or were the so-called substitutes already prepared and ready for delivery in the short period of three days?” Garcia challenged. “And if there was really nothing irregular going on, why is it that the Comelec did not allow the presence of media and party watchers during the reconfiguration?”

Garcia also put into the question the participation of Venture Link Int’l, saying they must also be held accountable for the irregular flashcards.

“Did the Comelec know and approve the subcontracting by Smartmatic to Venture Link of the reconfiguration of the flashcards that failed in the tests?,” he said.

Garcia said Smartmatic must be held fully accountable for the malfunctioning and misuse of the PCOS machines, which caused the disenfranchisement of over 10 million voters.

Garcia appealed to Congress to see to it that the flashcards used in the elections are stored to be made available to Congress when needed.

“Congress will be the last bastion to ferret out the real votes cast. We urge Congress to require the submission of the flash cards as well as manual counting in a certain number of municipalities to establish the veracity of the counts,” said Garcia.

However, when asked if they would push for a manual recount of all the votes should huge discrepancies be discovered, Garcia said it would be up to Congress to decide.

“The Palace supports whatever decisions the Comelec wil render concerning this issue. It has always been our position that the Comelec is the only one authorized to answer all issues relevant to the conduct of elections,” Olivar said.

Olivar reiterated that Malacañang feels vindicated with the recently concluded poll exercises for it was able to disprove longstanding allegations by some quarters on NO Elections(Noel) and Retain Arroyo through failure of elections(Rafael) scenarios. “Our firm position (in favor) of the Comelec’s competence during those critical periods makes us feel vindicated,” Olivar said. “And so, given that, we see no reason why we should change our position (on the matter) if ever there are still some issues that are yet to be resolved,” he added. Olivar stressed that their trust and confidence to the poll body will never waver whatever against all the issues it is facing.

Aytch de la Cruz

Poll papers seized in raids

COMELEC ASKED TO TAKE HOLD OF AMPATUAN BALLOT DOCUMENTS

Poll papers seized in raids

By Angie M. Rosales

12/07/2009

Ballot boxes and other election paraphernalia were among those secured by raiding teams on properties owned by the Ampatuans to reinforce suspicions that the decision to impose martial law on Maguindanao province was also meant to seal off evidence on the massive fraud in the past two national elections in 2004 and 2007, opposition leaders said yesterday.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said he received information that election officials assigned to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have been ordered to examine and take custody of the poll documents.

Pimentel believed the documents are key to prove the rigging of results in the 2004 polls that enabled President Arroyo to win another six-year term as president and for administration candidates to sweep the senatorial race in the province in 2007.

“The Ampatuans have threatened that if the government would nail them down, they would reveal what really happened in the past two elections,” he said.

Pimentel said he was informed that during the series of raids conducted by the military and police forces, they discovered and confiscated ballot boxes containing election documents.

The senator urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to take custody of the ballot boxes and other election paraphernalia that the military obtained in a series of raids on sprawling properties of members of the Ampatuan clan along with caches of firearms and ammunition.

United Opposition (UNO) president and vice presidential bet Jejomar Binay added the martial law proclamation is likely a hunt for evidence of past election frauds.

Binay said great care is being taken to present martial law in Maguindanao as different from martial law in 1972. “It is a supposedly a smiling martial law, without the restrictions that are associated with martial law,” he said.

Arroyo signed Proclamation 1959 placing the entire province of Maguindanao

under martial law, citing the threat of rebellion in the province following the arrest of a scion of the powerful Ampatuan clan identified as the mastermind of the gruesome massacre of civilians –including women and journalists - in November.

Pimentel said it should be the Comelec officials in Manila that should scrutinize and take custody of these documents.

He suggested that a team from Comelec’s main office to be dispatched to Maguindanao and it should be led by lawyer Fernando Rafanan, head of the legal department.

Possibly, he said, one of the reasons for the declaration of martial rule in the province could be for the Arroyo administration to cover up the massive fraud in the province that marred the last two national elections.

Pimentel said he is worried that the election documents may be tampered with or destroyed because certain election officials in the ARMM were involved in the cheating operations in the 2004 and 2007 polls.

“Due to martial law, the public may not be able to know what is happening. The people are afraid to speak. Even journalists may not be able to report the truth because of threat to their lives. Warrantless arrest are being enforced and they can be picked up on order of martial law authorities,” he said.

Pimentel said he does not find any legal ground for declaring martial law as a means of going after the perpetrators of the November 23 massacre that resulted in the murder of 57 civilians.

He argued that the conditions laid down by the Constitution for imposing martial law were not present in Maguindanao, specifically the threat of rebellion and invasion by an external force.

“What happened in Maguindanao was that members of the Mangudadatu family and their companions, including lawyers and journalists were ambushed, abducted and massacred. Where is rebellion there?” the senator from Mindanao said.

Pimentel said even military commanders dispatched to Maguindanao reported that while they were able to confiscate huge cache of firearms and ammunition from the weapons arsenal of the Ampatuans, they saw no indication that these political warlords and their followers were attempting to fight back.

“Clearly, there is no basis for the claim that there is a threat of rebellion from the Ampatuans. May be this is just a gimmick to say there is a ground for martial law. But as I see it, this is just a ploy to hide the evidence of massive cheating in the last elections,” he said.

Pimentel said he and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile have agreed that the Senate will first meet at 9 am today to discuss Arroyo’s martial law proclamation.

He said the Senate will also hold a joint session with the House of Representatives tomorrow at the Batasang Pambansa building in Quezon City also to take up Proclamation 1959 that imposed military rule on Maguindanao.

The President is required to report to Congress within 48 hours from the time she declared martial law. The President may appear personally before the legislature or submit a written report.

If Congress finds no justification for the martial law declaration, it can overturn the President’s action and she could not veto it, the senator said.

He said that while the Constitution prescribes a 60 day period for the effectivity of martial law, it can be shortened if warranted by circumstances.

Pimentel said the Senate is likely to vote against the martial law declaration if it is not convinced of the grounds cited by the Chief Executive. But he said the voting at the House may turn out to be different because it is dominated Mrs. Arroyo’s legislative allies.

Binay said the various conditions cited by Palace officials for justifying the declaration of martial law in the province have been disputed by the Supreme Court and known legal luminaries.

“The claim that there is a state of rebellion is factually doubtful since the mere sighting of armed men does not constitute rebellion. And the Supreme Court itself had denied government’s claim that the courts in Maguindanao are not functioning,” Binay said.

With the factual basis and legal basis for the declaration of martial law in doubt, Binay said the question arises as to the real motive behind the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao.

If the Ampatuans’ threat to expose the extensive cheating in the province during the 2004 presidential elections is proven true, Binay said the Arroyo administration is “committing another injustice to the victims of the Maguindanao massacre.”

“They are exploiting the nation’s outrage to cover up another serious crime, that of stealing the 2004 elections,” he said.

“It would now appear that the Arroyo administration is using the full might of the state – the Armed Forces, the police and all agencies of government - to recover original election returns or certificates of canvass reportedly in the possession of the Ampatuans,” he said.

“A state of martial law will allow the administration to conduct raids and searches without going through the courts,” he added.

Maguindanao has long been considered an administration bailiwick, delivering the votes for Mrs. Arroyo in the 2004 presidential elections over opposition bet Fernando Poe Jr.

In the “Hello Garci” recordings, former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano mentioned that “there would be no problem” for Arroyo in Maguindanao. DAILY TRIBUNE

SAF commandos confirm 2004 poll fraud cover-up

SAF commandos confirm 2004 poll fraud cover-up

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS

VERA Files

(First of two parts)

When Gloria Arroyo delivers her eighth State of the Nation Address at the Batasang Pambansa session hall today, she will be standing close to where, three years ago, police commandos say they replaced genuine election returns (ERs) with fake ones in ballot boxes that were being readied for a recount of the 2004 presidential election.

The ER switching at the Batasan had been talked about and reported on since 2005, when Arroyo apologized for talking to an election official while the votes were being counted, in what has since been known as the "Hello, Garci" scandal.

Recently, some of those who took part in that clandestine operation have sought legal refuge, executing affidavits and taped testimonies of their involvement. Others told friends in confidence, while a few boasted about it in drinking sessions.

They said they switched the ERs of several provinces on three occasions to reconcile these with the figures in the certificates of canvass (COCs) and statements of votes (SOVs) that were tampered with in the 2004 elections.

The stories told by some of the participants and their confidants in the Batasan operation constitute what could be grounds for another impeachment case against Arroyo.

They revive allegations that not only did the President cheat in the 2004 elections, but also tried to cover her tracks by switching the ERs that would have been scrutinized in 2005. At that time, the presidential electoral protest filed by Arroyo’s opponent, Fernando Poe Jr., was still pending. Poe died of a heart attack in December 2004, but his widow, Susan Roces, pursued the protest. (She was turned down on the ground that the party in interest had died.)

Among those who took part in the Batasan operation were members of the Special Action Force (SAF), an elite unit of the Philippine National Police.

Some of them said they got their orders from Chief Supt. Marcelino Franco, then commanding officer of the SAF. Both Franco and the then chief of the SAF Intelligence and Investigation Division, Supt. Rafael Santiago, were present at a briefing on the operation, SAF sources said.

The SAF sources refused to be named for fear of their safety and that of their families. MALAYA The rest of this story.
Part 2
Related Link
Arsenio Rasalan

Zubiri’s Senate seat in peril as SET OKs ballot review

Zubiri’s Senate seat in peril as SET OKs ballot review

By Angie M. Rosales

Daily Tribune 06/20/2008

The possibility of a last-minute change in the composition of the current 23-man Senate was raised yesterday as the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) issued a resolution ordering the continuation of a review of contested election results following the findings of prima facie evidence and reasonable grounds on the complaint of losing senatorial bet, lawyer Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel.

The SET itself, in its nine-page resolution dated June 17, said that “spurious” ballots could directly affect the outcome of last year’s national polls, considering that Pimentel’s closest rival, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, who was proclaimed as the 12th senator, only won by 19,292 votes.

Zubiri’s camp, through his lawyer, Romulo Macalintal, however, remained unperturbed by this latest development, claiming he remains confident of Zubiri keeping his current post.

Macalintal said they welcome the resolution of the SET, to erase all doubts over his client’s victory as the 12th winning senator and that they are confident that, in the end, Zubiri’s victory will be affirmed.

“He is not surprised by the said resolution to proceed with the revision proceedings as it is the usual procedure in an election protest. The findings with regard to some spurious ballots found during the revision proceedings will not affect Zubiri’s standing since it has to be established that these are the same ballots used during the election or the ones counted at the precinct level,” Macalintal, who also acts as spokesman on the senator’s poll issue, said.

In particular, however, the so-called spurious votes are mainly from Mindanao, where all too suddenly, Zubiri obtained close to 100,000 votes in just one area, wiping out the 100,000 vote lead of Pimentel. The other Mindanao votes for Zubiri were also seen as questionable.

The contending parties have been issued gag order in discussing the pending protest case in public.

The SET has directed the parties to proceed with the revision on the remaining 75 percent of the contested precincts and the re-tabulation of the election documents in Patikul, Sulu.

“Accordingly, finding sufficient cause therefore, the Tribunal orders the continuation of the proceedings in the instant electoral protest case,” the tribunal said in its resolution.

This came following the recent completion by the SET of the recount of the disputed votes in pilot areas in four Mindanao provinces cast in the May 14, 2007 senatorial election in connection with the electoral protest filed by Koko Pimentel, a Genuine Opposition (GO) candidate.

This is pursuant to the SET rules which provide that a protesting candidate must prove he has solid basis for his protest by showing evidence of fraud in at least 25 percent of the election results in pilot places that are subject of his protest.

In the said resolution, the SET, composed of three Supreme Court justices and six incumbent senators, said results of the initial revision on the first 25 percent precincts revealed that Pimentel, the protestant, “has prima facie valid cause of action.”

“Indeed, there is reasonable ground to believe that the final outcome of the case could affect the officially proclaimed results for the 12th senatorial position in the 14 May 2007 national elections, hence, the election protest case deserves further proceedings by the Tribunal,” it said.

“Suffice it to say at this time, that the results of the initial revision and appreciation proceedings already done showed that the 14 May 2007 election in certain designated pilot areas was characterized by proven irregularities,” it further said.

Of the said revision proceedings comprising 25 percent of the questioned precincts, the tribunal discovered in six of the nine pilot municipalities in Maguindanao and Lanao del Norte, for instance, 98.15 percent of the ballots cast were found to be “spurious” or at least 70,922 ballots were discovered to have been doctored or spurious while only 1,334 ballots were considered genuine.

Zubiri of Team Unity (TU) received some 11,004,099 votes while Pimentel was ranked 13th with 10,984,807 votes.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on July 14, 2007 proclaimed Zubiri as the last winning senator and immediately after, Pimentel filed his protest case before the SET.

The losing senatorial candidate and namesake of Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. has questioned the results in some 2,658 precincts covering 44 municipalities and seven provinces.

Earlier, the minority leader noted the conduct of the revision proceedings where his son has subjected 664 Precincts in Maguindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan, Lanao del Norte and Sulu as his pilot precinct areas.

Before the physical counting of the votes in the pilot areas, Koko Pimentel was trailing his rival by 17,251. But after the physical counting of the votes in the pilot areas, he led his rival by 17,117 votes, the minority leader said.

The bases for the reversal of leads consisted of proof submitted by Koko and his lawyers that showed, among other things:

1. The massive use of fake or spurious ballots testified to, among others, by Miguel Arcadio, division chief of the Press Division of the National Printing Office and Teodoro Ferrer, then consultant of the Printing Committee of the Commission on Elections.

2. Use of fake election returns (without watermarks, different sizes of forms, texture of paper, etc.)

3. Mixed genuine and fake ballots in certain precincts.

4. Ballots clearly written by one person or by the same group of cheats as shown by similar handwriting styles or strokes.

5. Precincts without tally boards.

6. Falsified statement of votes as in Matungao, Lanao del Norte.

7. Dagdag-bawas in Basilan where Koko’s votes were slashed by 4,260 votes.

House Speaker Jose de Venecia Ousted

The war among the thieves has begun. I smell blood. House Speaker Jose de Venecia (JDV) was ousted and spills election fraud beans and graft and massive corruption of the Arroyo administration. Malacanang orchestrated the ouster as revenge against Jose DeVenecia. JDV’s son Joey DeVenecia implicated presidential husband Miguel Arroyo in the $329 M NBN-ZTE broadband scam. What’s next? The 4th impeachment complaint against Gloria Arroyo this year is highly possible. JDV and his Lakas Party loyalists may join the opposition. There are presently 30 opposition members in the House of Representatives. It needs about 80 votes for the impeachment case to prosper and forwarded for trial in the opposition dominated Senate. Gloria Arroyo expects a stormy political climate until her 2010 term ends. V for De Venecia’s vengeance!

How lawmakers voted in vacating Speaker's seat