Senator Panfilo Lacson on Thursday said he was looking into “worrisome” reports about against poll technology provider Smartmatic, and said that the incumbents in the administration have the advantage in Eleksyon 2022.
“Definitely, they [administration] have all the advantages. The resources, whether its financial or logistical resources. This keeps on coming up [like] Smartmatic, ‘di mo maalis [You cannot discount concerns on this]. There are reports we keep receiving, di lang [not only in] 2019 or 2016, nagsimula ito [it started] in 2010. Worrisome, bothersome ang reports na dumarating sa amin, that Smartmatic might have been compromised, we’re looking into this,” Lacson said in an ANC interview.
“Even during the hearings in the Senate this was exposed by Senate President [Vicente Sotto III]. ‘Yung transmission nauuna sa election [The transmission comes first before the actual elections]. He presented documents to that effect. So it is a cause not only for worry, but it’s a cause for alarm because if the mandate will not be respected by the government or ang mandate ng tao di masusunod malaki problema natin [if the mandate of the people is not followed, we have a big problem]. We’re continuing to look into this,” he added.
Sotto had claimed “irregularities” in the conduct of the 2016 polls, claiming that transmission activity was captured a day before the election.
Lacson expressed concern about other interventions in the next year’s elections, including the warehousing services contract, which was recently awarded to F2 Logistics.
F2 Logistics is a company linked to Davao businessman Dennis Uy, a major donor to President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign kitty in the 2016 polls.
“Not just the area of warehousing. Maraming pwedeng magkaroon ng intervention. [There are other areas where there can be interventions.] And we’re trying to piece them together and find out how to check possible weaknesses [in the] election and transmission processes,” he said.
“We’re looking deeply into all these aspects na pwede magkaroon ng sabihin nating dayaan. Ang dayaan di sa precinct level or agaw-balota. In this day and age of modern technology iba ang usapan, it’s computerized,” he added.
[Cheating during elections is no longer at the precinct level. In this day and age of modern technology, election fraud is computerized.]
Lacson said there is a joint congressional oversight on elections.
On Wednesday, Lacson and Senate President Vicente Sotto III formally announced their presidential and vice presidential bids, respectively, for Eleksyon 2022.
On the same day, President Rodrigo Duterte accepted PDP-Laban’s nomination for him to run for vice president in the upcoming polls. — BM, GMA News
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