The Commission on Elections (Comelec) together with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) have officially completed the escrow deposit of the Final Trusted Build Source Codes for the upcoming National and Local Elections on May 12, 2025.
This move ensures compliance with Republic Act No. 8436, as amended by R.A. No. 9369, also known as the "Automated Elections System Act."
"Yung iba kasi sa mga bangko dinedeposito eh. pero ito dito natin minarapat nasa batas naman sa BSP kasi iba ang level ng seguridad. Para lang ipakita sa sambayanan na protektado ang source code natin (Some deposit it to banks, but we have chosen to deposit it here to BSP here because the level of security is different. This is just to show the public that our source code is protected)," Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said in an interview on Monday, March 24.
Garcia said once it gets deposited, it can no longer be retrieved. He said that there had not been a case in the past where the source codes were required to be retrieved.
These source codes are essential components of the Automated Elections System (AES) and include critical software for the Automated Counting Machine (ACM), the Consolidation and Canvassing System (CCS), the Election Management System (EMS), the Secure Electronic Transmission System (SETS), and the Online Voting and Counting System (OVCS).
The escrow deposit ceremony took place at the BSP Head Office in Manila, led by Garcia and BSP Officer-in-Charge Elmore Capule. Poll Commissioners Rey E. Bulay and Nelson J. Celis, along with BSP Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat were also present.
Representatives from election watchdogs, including the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting and the National Movement for Free Elections, as well as members of the media, served as witnesses.
Before the deposit, COMELEC and BSP formalized an escrow agreement, reinforcing the security and transparency of the election process. The source codes, stored in digital media devices, have undergone both international certification and local source code review, ensuring the accuracy, credibility, transparency, and auditability of electronic election processes.
These processes include:
- the counting, consolidation, and canvassing of votes, election returns and certificates of canvass, by the ACM, OVCS, and CCS;
- the transmission of electronic election results thru the SETS; and
- the overall management of the automated elections via the EMS.
The BSP maintains custody of the source codes from past elections, including those of 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2022.
With the source codes now securely stored, Comelec aims to further bolster public confidence in the automated election process ahead of the May 2025 polls.