THERE is an unfinished business which we should all revisit and remember so we can avoid the dangers of the computerized election system. Nene Pimentel and Rufus Rodriguez, our distinguished legislators, should revisit this too, and perhaps, honor us with a decent response through this paper, which we would greatly appreciate for the people’s enlightenment.
Remember that right after the May 10, 2010 elections, a congressional inquiry regarding the computerized elections was done. At the Senate, then Senator Nene Pimentel lead the inquiry, while Rufus Rodriguez led the inquiry at the House of Representatives. Now take note that at the time of the inquiry, Koko Pimentel’s election protest against Zubiri was still pending.
Remember too that was the election when election paraphernalia, including flash cards (or flask cards), were found dumped at the city landfill. While the furor and investigation was going on, our law office, then acting as legal counsel for Klarex Uy, received a mysterious document. It was a copy of the memorandum signed by DOST Director Alfonso Alamban (a friend of mine during my Xavier days) addressed to the DOST technicians thanking them for working overnight to “reconfigure” the 20 “contingency” flash cards up the wee hours of the morning of election day! That memorandum mentioned that the extra work given to the DOST technicians was upon the instruction or order of Comelec Manila Executive Director Jose Tolentino.
It turned out that Tolentino, on his own indiscretion and volition, issued the 20 extra or contingency flash cards to every province, or a total of 1600 “wild” and unaccounted flash cards nationwide, without the knowledge, authority, instruction, memorandum or order from the Comelec en banc, and without legal basis.
(The flash card or flask card is the chip inserted into every PCOS machine, and it supposedly contains a photographic record of and counts the ballots dropped and it is the brain that transmits the election results per precinct to the central canvassing center at city hall or the provincial capitol. If it is pre-programmed ahead of the elections and hand carried to the canvassing center when the PCOS machines at the precincts malfunction, or when the original flash cards containing the genuine election results are replaced or substituted by them, then electoral fraud could certainly occur).
My lawyer wife, Atty. Evangeline Carrasco, then furnished Congressman Rodriguez and Senator Nene Pimentel copies of the DOST memorandum. It was a shocking revelation, but the mass media never picked it up. (There was only a small and shy write up by the Philippine Daily Inquirer at the bottom right portion of the front page). After all, Noynoy Aquino had been declared winner and there was no need to upset or disturb anything.
During the Senate investigation, which was aired live on TV and radio, Nene Pimentel pointedly asked the Comelec chairman and other commissioners if they had authorized or issued any memorandum to Director Tolentino to issue 20 extra “contingency” flashcards to every province, or if there was legal basis for the issuance of the same. They responded they were not aware of it and they had not issued any memorandum authorizing Tolentino’s action, and they admitted there was no legal basis for his action. When asked if she knew or was notified about the extra flash cards, Namfrel head, Henrietta de Villa, answered in the negative.
Executive Director Tolentino himself, when asked by Pimentel if he had any legal basis for the issuance of the extra flash cards, in a quivering voice, could only answer that he thought he should provide for the “contingency” that some flash cards may turn out to be defective, and that he did it on his own volition! There was certainly something seriously wrong. The action of Tolentino is called “election sabotage.”
A few days after that inquiry, it came out in the news that Migs Zubiri was resigning and was giving way to Coco Pimentel in the senatorial contest. Has President Noynoy Aquino exerted pressure on anyone? Nene Pimentel, up to now, has never filed any election sabotage case against Tolentino. Neither has Rufus who seems to be having a good time with DPWH. Why? Was there any quid pro quo? It is our moral and social obligation to ask. And we should all be asking fearlessly.
(Mariano B. Carrasco is a lawyer based in Cagayan de Oro.)
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