SC asked to stop Comelec, 3 firms from ‘erasing, modifying’ transmitted results of 2022 elections


Supreme Court

The Supreme Court (SC) was asked on Thursday, Nov. 3, to stop the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and three telecommunications firms from “modifying, erasing or deleting” the transmitted results of the May 9, 2022 national and local elections.

Aside from the Comelec, named respondents in the petition that sought the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) were Smartmatic Total Information Management, DITO Telecommunity, Globe Telecom, and Smart Communications.

The petition was filed by former Department of Information and Communications Technology Undersecretary Eliseo M. Rio Jr., Acting Chairperson Augusto C. Lagman of the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections, and lawyer Franklin F. Ysaac.

The petitioners asked the SC to stop the Comelec and the three firms from committing any act that “may modify, erase, or delete any part or whole of the subscriber, cyber traffic data log integrity, or call record details corresponding to the elections that were transmitted from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. of May 9.”

They also asked the SC to direct Comelec and the three firms to submit to the High Court “faithful copies” of their records and data on the results of the elections.

A copy of their petition was not available as of posting.

In pressing for a TRO, the petitioners said that “the period of six months from the May 9 elections is soon to expire within a few days from today, or on the 9th of November.” The six-month period is the time mandated by the Election Automated Law for the Comelec to submit a report on the election results.

At the same time, the petitioners cited the provisions in the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 which requires the preservation of data and subscriber information for at least six months.

“We hope that the Supreme Court will promulgate a politically-neutral provisional remedy, as soon as possible, before the 9th of November 2022, directing the Comelec and the telecommunication companies to preserve the subscriber and cyber traffic data integrity of the national election results transmitted from 7pm to at least 9pm of May 9, 2022,” they pleaded in their petition.

The SC has not been conducting sessions in preparation for the 2022 online and regionalized Bar examinations which start on Nov. 9.

It was not known immediately if the petition would be tackled in a special session considering the urgency cited by the petitioners.

TAGS: #SC #Comelec #Election Results