The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is hoping that the arrested three alleged members of a hacker’s group promising sure victory to candidates in exchange for money will name their other accomplices.
The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center or CICC said it has arrested three alleged members of XSOX last Saturday, April 23.
“Sana po iyang mga naaresto ay masabi rin sino ang iba nilang kasama para kahit paano ay mapigilan na ang ganitong klaseng pandaraya sa mga kandidato at partido political (I hope that the arrested individuals will name their cohorts in order to stop this kind of scam targeting candidates and political parties),” Comelec Commissioner George Erwin M. Garcia said during an ambush interview, Tuesday, April 26.
Garcia said that such groups are all over the country, offering candidates and political parties of sure win without lifting a finger.
“May naniningil ng P70 million, may naniningil ng P50 million, hindi na raw mangangampanya, pahiga-higa na lang daw ang kandidato okay na mananalo na (Some ask for P70 million, some ask for P50 million, saying the candidate do not have to engage in campaigning, all they have to do is lie down and they will win) ,” he said.
With this, Garcia called on candidates and political parties not to pay such groups claiming that they can hack the election system being used by the poll body.
“There is no such thing as an immediate and quick solution to a problem like a campaign and an election like this,” he said.
“Kinakailangan po ay pinaghihirapan po ang pangangampanya, pagpapakilala sa mga kababayan natin, panliligaw po sa kanila, at ang paglalahad po sa kanila ng mga plataporma (You should work hard for your campaign, make yourself known to our countrymen, courting them, and laying out your platforms),” the poll commissioner added.
According to Garcia, there is no record that anyone was able to successfully hack into the system being used by the poll body.