The Aksyon Demokratiko party on Monday, Jan. 10, called for an immediate investigation by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on the reported hacking of its servers.
“There is a need for the Comelec leadership to act now and show us, the candidates and the Filipino voters, the Honorable Commission’s commitment to a clean and credible elections,” Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer and Manila mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said.
“Make these hackers, these culprits, pay for the crime they committed! Whether they are from within or outside the Comelec, this brazen act committed by these hackers, which further attempts to diminish the integrity of the upcoming 2022 national and local elections in the Philippines, should not go unpunished”, he added.
Domagoso also urged other candidates and the Filipino voters to join the call for the Comelec to conduct an investigation as this can affect the 2022 National and Local elections.
“Kung seryoso po tayong lahat na tayo ay magbabantay sa eleksyon na gagawin natin bilang malayang estado sa Mayo 2022, dapat nating kalampagin ang Comelec at tanungin kung ano na ang agaran at mabilis na aksyon na kanilang gagawin sa pagnanakaw ng mga hackers sa mga sensitibo at highly confidential na impormasyon kaugnay sa paparating na eleksyon (If we are all serious that we will watch the election that we will hold as an independent state in May 2022, we should applaud the Comelec and ask what immediate and swift action they will take to steal hackers from sensitive and highly confidential information related to the upcoming election),” he said.
“Nakasalalay sa paninindigan natin para sa isang patas at malinis na eleksyon, maging automated man ito o hindi, ang kinabukasan ng ating bansa at demokrasya (The future of our country and democracy depends on our stand for a fair and clean election, whether it is automated or not)”, Domagoso stressed.
In a Manila Bulletin report, sensitive voter information may have been compromised after a group of hackers was allegedly able to breach the servers of the Comelec, downloading more than 60 gigabytes of data that could possibly affect the May 2022 elections.
The data include network diagrams, IP addresses, list of all privileged users, domain admin credentials, list of all passwords and domain policies, access to the ballot handling dashboard, and QR code captures of the bureau of canvassers with login and password.
Read more: Comelec servers hacked; Downloaded data may include information that could affect 2022 elections
“Comelec should assure all of us Filipinos that they have a risk management plan and a protocol in place that will be followed by the Commission to ensure a fair, honest, and genuinely credible 2022 national and local elections especially after hearing the news that these hackers were able to download files that included, among others, usernames and PINS of vote-counting machines (VCM). Imagine the usernames and PINS of the VCMs have been stolen as well!”, Aksyon Demokratiko Chairperson Ernest Ramel said.
“Hacking of the Comelec servers should have been identified and projected by the COMELEC as a real risk that they should have mitigated and avoided. But now that this transpired already, the Comelec should be ready with their Plan B, which is to ensure the execution of a credible 2022 NLE in May despite this large-scale hacking of their server.”