Nelson Morales

Comelec: Data Center 3 only housed transparency servers

Article (news)

Job Manahan

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17478292893961747829286302.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="The Commission on Elections begins its random manual audit (RMA) of ballots in the 2025 national and local elections at the Citadines by the Bay on May 14, 2025. Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News "/>The Commission on Elections begins its random manual audit (RMA) of ballots in the 2025 national and local elections at the Citadines by the Bay on May 14, 2025. Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News </div>MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday criticized groups alleging the presence of a data center that election returns supposedly went through before being sent to other servers.The poll body said critics might not have understood the process. In a forum in Quezon City attended by various stakeholders and election watchdogs, Alyansa ng Nagkakaisang Mamamayan co-convenor Alex Lacson claimed &quot;Comelec through its Data Center 3 was the only one that conducted the consolidation of all election returns from precincts nationwide.&quot;The ANIM co-convenor continued: “Hindi pinadalhan directly. The question that we would like to ask, why did Comelec use the Data Center 3 server? This is not one of the listed and designated servers to receive.”He said that this happened &quot;without the presence or participation&quot; of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, National Movement for Free Elections, the media, or representatives of political parties.But Comelec Spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said it seemed the group did not understand that the Data Center 3 was a facility for the transparency servers and not an intermediary server.He said critics ought to have joined the local source code review, observed the international certification and participated in the walkthroughs before election day.“[P]ati na sa technical inspection hanggang sa lockdown at e-day operations, makikita nila na mali po lahat: fallacies of unwarranted assumptions,” he said.(And the technical inspection until the lockdown and election day operations. They will see that they are wrong. These are fallacies of unwarranted assumptions)Laudiangco said ANIM and other critics should have asked their IT experts about supposed issues.<div> <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/5/13/wrap-alleged-issues-in-automated-halalan-2025-1638">WRAP: Alleged issues in automated Halalan 2025</a></div>“At dahil malinaw na sa ating lahat na walang server ang Comelec sa DC3, malinaw din na walang consolidation na maaaring gawin ang Comelec sa naturang pasilidad,” he said in a separate statement.(And since it is clear that there was no Comelec server in DC3, it is also clear that Comelec could not have done any consolidation at that facility)The discussion also took a heated turn when the panel and the stakeholders discussed the software used in the automated counting machines (ACM) — referring to the version 3.4 and version 3.An IT expert from PPCRV tried explaining the version, as he supposedly attended the trusted build processes weeks before the midterm elections.Lawyer Harold Respicio, a vocal critic of the poll body, even stood up from where he was seated and said the IT expert was not able to explain his stance properly.This was when Ana Singson, PPCRV’s spokesperson, defended their IT officer and addressed the panel, saying their expert had watched over the process from the start. &quot;Comelec should be answerable, not us,&quot; she said.The Comelec said an independent and third-party international certification entity Pro V&amp;V already said there was no mismatch in the software version of the automated counting machine and the version posted in the audit report.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/5/13/ppcrv-explains-duplicates-reduced-votes-in-partial-count-1106">PPCRV explains ‘duplicates’, reduced votes in partial count </a></div>“Ayon sa Pro V&amp;V ay outdated ang dokumentong ‘Final Source Code Review Report’ na may petsang 30 April 2025, sapagkat hindi nila naisama dito ang ilang mga pagbabagong isinumite ng Miru sa Pro V&amp;V noong 28 March 2025,” he said.“Binago ang build version number mula 3.4 at naging 3.5 dulot ng mga pagbabagong ito. Pagkatapos ay idinagdag ang mga pagbabagong ito sa report at muling sumailalim sa review ng Pro V&amp;V, at sa Final Trusted Build noong 29 March 2025, 9:00AM Manila Time sa Huntsville, Alabama,” Laudiangco said.

The Commission on Elections on Wednesday criticized groups alleging the presence of a data center that election returns supposedly went through before being sent to other servers.

The Commission on Elections on Wednesday criticized groups alleging the presence of a data center that election returns supposedly went through before being sent to other servers.