Koko desmayado sa pagkaantala ng Automated Poll System Certification

HINDI nailihim ang pagkadesmaya ni Senador Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III sa Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC), ang ahensiyang nilikha sa bisa ng Automated Election Law, dahil hindi pa rin nito napagtitibay ang automated election system (AES) na gagamitin sa nalalapit na national at local polls samantala halos isang buwan o 30 araw na lang ang nalalabi bago sumapit ang May 13 elections.

Ipinaliwanag ni Pimentel, sa ilalim ng Republic Act No. 8436 at sinusugan ng R.A. No. 9369, tungkulin ng TEC na pagtibayin tatlong buwan o 90 araw bago mag-eleksiyon na gumagana nang maayos, tiyak at tama ang AES.

Binubuo ang ahensiya ng mga kinatawan mula Commission on Elections (COMELEC), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) at ng Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

“The TEC failed again to meet the deadline to submit its certification three months before the May 13 polls, which should have been last February 13, 2019,” sabi ni Pimentel, chair ng Senate panel ng Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the Automated Election System (JCOC-AES).

Sa ilalim ng nasabing batas, sasalang ang computer system sa masusing hardware at software certification.

Kasama sa proseso ang field testing sa pamamagitan ng mock elections, source code review, certification na nakalagak ang code sa Bangko Sentral at paglalatag ng continuity plan sakali mang magkaroon ng system failure.

“If in case the COMELEC decides to use the AES without the TEC’s certification, it must submit a letter to the JCOC-AES to explain the non-submission a month before the elections,” paalala ni Pimentel na nag-topnother sa Bar examinations noong 1990.

Sa ginanap na JCOC-AES Technical Working Group meeting noong 8 Abril, ipinaliwanag ni Chairman Peter Antonio Banzon of the Advanced Science and Technology Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-ASTI) na hindi pa nakapag-iisyu ang TEC ng sertipikasyon dahil hinihintay pa ang pagdating ng continuity plan ng COMELEC at instalasyon ng trusted build sa lahat ng makinang nakalagak sa COMELEC warehouse.

“This is the fourth national election that we are using an automated election system, and we still experience delays on this mandatory requirement. During the last 2016 elections, the TEC issued its certification just four days before the May 9 polls. Haven’t we learned from past experience?” nag-aalalang pahayag ni Pimentel nang matuklasan ang rebelasyong ito.

Idinagdag ng abogado at mambabatas na magsisimula ang overseas absentee voting ngayong 13 Abril ngunit hindi pa naibibigay ng TEC ang kanilang stamp of approval sa mga makinang ipinadala sa ibang bansa.

“We cannot blame the public if it raises doubts and questions about the integrity of the AES if there’s always a failure in complying with the law. That’s why I call and demand for the TEC certification’s immediate issuance, or the COMELEC must explain why there is still none,” sabi ni Pimentel.