Comelec: source code arriving in PH

By Leslie Ann G. Aquino



After a long wait, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday announced that the source code of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines is finally expected to arrive in the country anytime.



Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said they have already given instructions to SLI Global Solutions, their third party reviewer, to bring in the source code in the country.



The source code is defined as the human readable instructions that define what the computer equipment will do.



“Last Friday, Smartmatic and Dominion (Voting Systems) already signed the agreement in America… the 2013 source code will already be brought to the Philippines,” he said in an interview.



“Dominion is coming in anytime. We are just waiting. They have already agreed that they will open the source code,” added Brillantes.



The poll chief made the surprise announcement to the media yesterday after coming out of the meeting with the Comelec Advisory Council (CAC) and Smartmatic International.



To recall, Brillantes earlier announced that they are already giving up their bid to secure the source code following failed negotiations with Smartmatic and Dominion which resulted to a deluge of criticisms from those that are against the re-use of the PCOS machines in the May 13 polls.



Chairman Brillantes said while he is not expecting their critics to be silenced, he believes that the recent development will prove them wrong.



“This will be the answer to those questioning the absence of the source code… To them saying there is no source code, please let us just work together (for the May 13 elections),” he said.



“But we don’t expect them to be silenced since they will always find something to criticize,” added Brillantes.



Asked if the source code will still be subjected to a review by political parties and interested groups, the poll chief answered in the affirmative.



“We are opening it for review to all people interested but this will have to be completed after the elections already. It cannot be completed at this time since it is not easy to review the source code,” said Brillantes.



Last Friday, a total of 33 individuals filed a lawsuit before the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) questioning the absence of transparency in both the 2010 and 2013 Philippine elections citing the absence of the source code as one of the main reasons.



Section 12 of the Poll Automation Law provides that the Comelec should make the source code “available and open to any interested political party or groups, which may conduct their own review”.