Comelec's online precinct finder map off by 10km

 

 

By: MARC JAYSON CAYABYAB, GMA News 

May 3, 2013 4:18pm

 

 

 

(Updated 5:23 p.m.) Less than two weeks before Election Day, the Comelec's online precinct finder system showed a wrong precinct location map when a voter typed her personal information into the system Thursday evening.

GMA News' Social Media Team's Rossa Landingin tried the system, which listed the correct address of her polling place but the location generated by Google Maps was incorrect.

"(A)ng nangyayari..., lalabas yung tamang details except 'yung Google Maps," Landingin said in a text message.

Posted on the Comelec's website, the precinct finder is supposed to provide voters their polling place address and show a map locating it. A voter would simply type his or her complete name and birthday to engage the system.

Landingin is supposed to vote at Claret School, Quezon City, but the map showed her polling place 10 kilometers away, locating it at Tandang Sora Market, along Tandang Sora Avenue.

Upon clicking the "View Map" button, a disclaimer would say: "Please note that the location of your polling center as shown in the Google Map may not be 100% accurate."

"The intention of this feature is just to give a general idea of the location. If the result turns out to be inaccurate, please verify with your local Comelec office on the correct location of your polling center before Election Day," the disclaimer further said.

Reached for a comment, the precinct finder programmer said they have no control over Google Maps search results.

"Hindi kasi namin controlled ang Google Maps. Kung pwede lang namin i-edit, i-e-edit namin," said the programmer, who refused to be identified.

Sometimes, a result in the Google Maps does not match the polling place because the map does not contain information on the correct location, he added.

"Ang gamit po kasi d'yan para ma-pinpoint 'yung exact location ay 'yung longitude at latitude ng polling center. Wala kaming data 'nun," he noted.

"Minsan hindi pa mismo naka-record sa Google 'yung location na 'yun kaya po minsan .... dun na lang po niya nilalagay sa nearest,"  the programmer added.

But in the case of Landingin, the Google Maps showed results of the location of Claret School, her precinct location.

Informed about this, the programmer said they would edit the codes "para mas accurate na 'yung lugar."

On Thursday, poll commissioner Grace Padaca told GMA News Online in a text message that the poll body "will look into this."

Elections chief Sixto Brillantes Jr. could not be reached for comment as of this posting .

Interviewed on Friday, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez believed the confusion could be because it is the established precincts that were encoded in the precinct finder.

 

The Comelec clustered the precincts to maximize the use of PCOS (precinct count optical scan) machines. From the 344,529 established precinct, the number was narrowed down or clustered to 77,829. There are 36,772 voting centers or schools where the public can cast their vote.

 

“For most people, reasonably accurate yung established precinct kasi dun din sila sa same area but we’ve had to reshuffle the precincts because of greater number of voters per clustered precinct, ngayon ang maximum 1,000 pero dati marami na 500, 600. Ngayon talagang pinagdikit dikit natin kasi yung ating PCOS machines e yun lang din ang kakayanin,” Jimenez said. — with Amita Legaspi/LBG, GMA News

 

 

 

 

SC asked to compel Comelec to show source code to political parties

May 3, 2013 5:37pm

Tags: Richard Gordon

 

Senatorial candidate Richard Gordon on Friday asked the Supreme Court to compel the Comelec to allow political groups to open and review the source code in the counting machines to be used for the coming polls.

 

In a 15-page petition for mandamus, Gordon, author of Republic Act No. 9369 which amended the Automated Election Law, also asked the high court to conduct oral arguments on the issue before the May 13 elections.
A mandamus compels someone to perform a specific public duty.

 

Apart from Gordon, he also named his political party Bagumbayan-Volunteers for a New Philippines as another petitioner.

 

"The law is clear. Section 14 of the Automated Election Law says that the Comelec shall promptly make the source code of that technology available and open to any interested political party or groups which may conduct their own review thereof,” said Gordon.

 

Gordon expressed concern about Comelec's refusal to give parties access to the codes.

 

“As I stated in the Petition, it pains me to file this case because as principal author of RA 9369, I and my colleagues intended to safeguard the sovereign will of the people in electing their leaders,” Gordon said in a statement.

 

“Placed in the wrong hands, the source code could be manipulated and used to systematically subvert and frustrate the people’s will,” he added.

 

A source code is the set of instructions to be followed by the computerized voting machine, and is written by computer programmers in a readable symbolic language.

 

Elections chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. recently said the poll body already has the source code which will be used for the polls, but will not be made available to political parties and other interested groups for their own review.

 

But Brillantes assured that the codes have been properly reviewed by a third-party information technology firm, SLI Global Solutions, though its certification papers have yet to be released by the code's owner, Dominion Voting Systems.

 

Dominion is asking Smartmatic to pay it $10 million for the latter's alleged use of the former's technology.

 

When the negotiations started, the chance of getting the source code was 50 percent, later rising to 96 and 97 percent early this month when a draft agreement was sent to the owners of Smartmatic and Dominion abroad.

 

Earlier, Brillantes had said he was giving up on getting the source code for the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines.

 

Without a certified source code, the same cannot be opened for review by political parties and other interest groups which is a requirement under Republic Act 9369. — Mark Merueñas/RSJ, GMA News

Tags: Richard Gordon

source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/306719/news/nation/sc-asked-to-compel-comelec-to-show-source-code-to-political-parties

Complaint filed vs. Comelec before UN body

By:   GIAN GERONIMO, GMA News 

May 3, 2013 5:07pm

 

 

(Updated 6:10 p.m.) A group of individuals has filed a complaint with a United Nations body accusing the Commission on Elections (Comelec) of depriving them of their right to suffrage.

At a press briefing Friday, lawyer Harry Roque Jr., who is representing the complainants, said the move was their last-ditch effort to “remedy” what he described as a “hopeless” situation regarding the country's electoral system.

“Kaya po kami nagpunta sa UN, wala na pong pag-asa rito sa Pilipinas,” Roque said. “Ako po ay nagtuturo ng constitutional law at international law... at ang palagi kong sinasabi, kapag mayroong paglabag ng karapatan, mayroon pong remedyo.”

The complaint was filed with the UN Human Rights Committee (UNRC).

“Kung ang ating mga hukuman po ay hindi magbibigay ng remedyo, asahan po natin sa larangan ng international law, mayroon po tayong kahit papaanong remedyong makukuha,” Roque said.

Publicity stunt?

Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. was unfazed, as he described the filing of the complaint as a publicity stunt.

“It is a publicity stunt on their part, whoever they are. Kasi hindi na sila manalo rito sa Supreme Court, kung saan-saan na sila nagpupupunta,” he told reporters.

At the same time, Brillantes said he cannot understand how a foreign association or organization can interfere with local elections.

 

“Ok na rin sa akin yung tumakbo sila sa UN, maski saan sa buong mundo. Hindi ko lang maintindihan kung paano makikialam ang foreign association, organization in a local election,” he said.

 

Asked what he will do with the complaint, Brillantes said he will just ignore it because [Election Day] is too close for the poll pody to be sidetracked.

 

“Officially wala (ng gagawin). Hindi na lang namin pansinin. We are too close to elections para pansinin and AES Watch, yung reklamo nila sa abroad,” he said.

Brillantes had previously dared his detractors to file an impeachment case against him.

Among the complainants were members of self-described anti-fraud groups like Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) and the Automated Election System (AES) Watch.

ICCPR

Their complaint was based on Article 25 of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), in which the Philippines is party to.

According to that Article, “Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity, without any of the distinctions mentioned in Article 2 and without unreasonable restrictions:

a. To take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives;

b. To vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors;

c. To have access, on general terms of equality, to public service in his country.”

According to the complainants, their right to free expression of their will as electors was violated by the Philippine government when it relinquished control of the automated elections’ technical aspects and gave control of public and private keys to all precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to technology provider Smartmatic.

The absence of a review of source codes used in the May 2010 elections was also a violation raised by the complainants.

Intimidation, threats

In a statement, AES Watch said one of the “most compelling reasons” the case was raised to the UN was because of “veiled threats and irresponsible accusations by the Comelec.”

“Instead of listening to the legitimate complaints and proposals of independent anti-fraud and poll watch groups, the Comelec resorts to undue intimidation and threats,” the group said.

If the UN decides to side with the complainants, Roque said the Philippines, being a party to the ICCPR, has no choice but to heed the international body.

“Sasabihin po (ng UNHRC) sa ating buong pamahalaan, hindi lang sa Comelec, na kinakailangan itigil niyo yang paglabag ninyo sa karapatan na nakasaad sa Article 25. At hindi po sila titigil hanggang di po tumigil ang paglabag ng Pilipinas,” Roque said.

However, he acknowledges that it will take some time for the UNHRC to decide on their complaint.

"Unfortunately matagal 'yan... pero kahit gaano katagal 'yan, dahil sa tingin ko hindi magbabago ang policy ng gobyerno, kinakailangan mayroong nakabinbin, para magkaroon ng pag-asa na magkaroon ng deklarasyon na mayroong paglabag sa karapatang pantao ang paggamit ng PCOS," he added. — with Amita Legaspi/KBK/RSJ, GMA News

 

 

 

Manhunt vs Mancao ongoing, Palace exec insists

By: PATRICIA DENISE CHIU, GMA News 

May 3, 2013 4:45pm

 

Amid insinuations that the government has not been doing enough to recover escaped murder suspect Cezar Mancao II, a Palace spokesperson on Friday assured the public that authorities are doing all they can to recover the fugitive former police officer.

 

“Yes, the manhunt is underway since yesterday. [But] I don’t want [yto] speak. I don’t want to say anything on what the government is doing as to the manner of tracking Cezar Mancao,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said at a briefing.

 

Mancao escaped from NBI [National Bureau of Invstigation] detention early Thursday morning. CCTV video showed him casually walking out of the NBI compound in Manila through an unlocked gate. Since his escape, Mancao has been freely giving media interviews.
On the day that he escaped, Mancao, detained in connection with the November 2000 twin killings of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito, was to be brought to the Manila City Jail. Mancao said he had feared for such transfer, stressing that his life could be in danger there.
Lacierda said Justice Secretary Leila De Lima is personally taking charge of Mancao’s recovery. The DOJ has supervision over the NBI.

 

“The situation here is that Secretary Leila de Lima even spoke to Mr. Cezar Mancao. She’s given him a day to surrender, and since he refused to surrender, the manhunt is ongoing. And since he’s been giving a lot of media interviews, we expect the forces are out there and searching for him,” Lacierda said.

 

At the same briefing, Lacierda assured the public that those responsible for Mancao’s escape will be held accountable.

 

“There was a video to show how he escaped so I think, that speaks for itself as to who the person is responsible for his escape, and they are being investigated, and proper sanctions will be imposed,” Lacierda said, adding that the government treats Mancao as a fugitive.

 

“We are tracking him down right now, and that’s why this is not something that we will countenance. He’s a fugitive and we will go after him,” Lacierda said.

 

He stopped short of disclosing details of the recovery operations.

 

“We don’t comment on ongoing operations,” he said.

 

For her part, De Lima enjoined the public to let the investigation run its course. 

 

“We will let the course of the investigation determine who will be held accountable for the escape of Mr. Mancao from custody. Up to what level the culpability will reach, we'll let the facts and the evidence that may be gathered decide that," De Lima said in a text message to Lacierda, which was forwarded to reporters.

 

Unfair

 

Meanwhile, Lacierda said Mancao should not be demanding to speak with the President, as he is already receiving special treatment. Instead, Lacierda advised him to let the courts process his case.

 

“It’s unfair for Cesar Mancao to ask the President to be fair. First of all, the case is before the courts, and we respect the independence of the courts. As to fair treatment, Secretary Mar Roxas has already said that he’s getting special treatment; he’s not being placed in the same cell as the others,” Lacierda said. — RSJ, GMA News.

 

Tags: Cezar Mancao , Dacer Corbito case