Militants question Smartmatic, Comelec on Rizal PCOS incident

A new wave of evidences emerged in Rizal province that casts a shadow of doubt at the entire automated electoral process.

In Sitio Tanog, Antipolo City 63 PCOS machines were found stacked at a private residence reported by the Comelec to be a technician of Smartmatic but local residents claim as a relative of a Vice-Mayoral Candidate in the town. Though the Comelec has already released a report that there is nothing irregular with the incident adding it was part of their safekeeping, partylists from the MAKABAYAN Coalition in Southern Tagalog question the process as it opens possibilities that the machines may be manipulated and used by candidates in ensuring their win.

“Now we see the real picture unraveling throughout the country that this election is far from the image that the Comelec wants the public to see. How can we ensure that the PCOS machines were not used to transmit and tamper the election returns? This incident in Rizal is but one of the numerous cases of irregularities which the Comelec clearly wants the public to ignore yet have grave implications for the whole process,” Ben Villeno, Makabayan  -Southern Tagalog regional coordinator said.

Villeno said that the “smooth and peaceful” process of this year’s elections was “too good to be true” given that the Comelec has lost its credibility in the past 2004 and 2007 elections. The Comelec, AFP and PNP generally declared the national election as peaceful and successful but Villeno countered this as a “condition to the mind of the public” that election protests may be difficult to be raised. Thousands reportedly flocked to the residence in Antipolo which unable the 16th infantry battalion and local PNP from getting the evidence.

“The election period is not yet over, with these new signs of possible fraud we will not allow our democratic process to be corrupted by those who may have tapped the Comelec and Smartmatic to gain power. The Comelec, if true to its duty, should not perceive things in a general perspective and not again say this is an isolated case but rather it should solve the numerous cases of irregularities in different municipalities,” he added.

Villeno also cited other irregularities in the province such as in the town of Hala-hala where the total votes cast were 1,000, far from the real number of voters which were 700. In areas in Montalban, 4 Election Returns displayed results that favor 99% of the same political candidates. Partylists under the Makabayan Coalition had close to none number of votes in the areas, Villeno stressed that an investigation from their poll watchers is underway on the incident.

In San Mateo, 3 PCOS machines while in Montalban 5 PCOS where defective. Meanwhile in Tanay transmission of municipal canvass of votes could not be executed since 3:30 PM of May 11 until press time due to a “down server”.

“Rizal, being a vote-rich province is a crucial area in the national elections, with this electoral fraud we must also start to investigate the various cases in different provinces. In the Southern Tagalog region alone, we have received around a hundred election irregularities that may still rise,” Tin Macabetcha, BAYAN Southern Tagalog secretary general stated.

The militant groups pledged to conduct a mass-mobilization, in a supposedly victory protest in Crossing, Calamba in the afternoon.

Currently, the Makabayan Coalition is gathering all pertinent data that may be used in reinvestigating and reassessing the 2010 elections given the latest analysis that partylist votes “ridiculously exceeded” by at least nine million votes. “We will continue to guard our votes and protect the people’s agenda for genuine change,” Macabetcha said.