Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday, March 4 urged the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the Automated Election System to investigate reports claiming that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has failed to obtain a legally-mandated certification on the security and accuracy of the automated election system (AES) for the May 2025 elections.

With only 70 days left until election day, Hontiveros said it is incumbent for the Senate and House of Representatives to immediately act and ensure that all legal mechanisms for clean and orderly automated elections are followed.

“These reported issues must be clarified, so that the people will have no fear or doubt come May 12,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

Hontiveros noted that Comelec reportedly has yet to comply with Sec. 11 of RA 8436 as amended by RA 9369 or the Election Automation Law.

Under the law, the poll body is required to obtain a certification from an established international certification entity stating that the country’s AES, including its hardware and software components, “is operating properly, securely and accurately.”

Hontiveros said the certification should have been issued “not later than three months before the date of the electoral exercises.”

“This means that Pro V & V Inc., the international certification entity contracted by Comelec, should have already issued a certification on or before February 12, 2025,” Hontiveros said.

“We need to ask Comelec, through the joint congressional oversight committee, where is the certification that would prove that our automated election system working well.

“And if the certification is not yet available, they should explain to the people why it has not been released yet, despite the clear deadline under the law,” she added

Should Comelec opt to proceed to use the AES without the required certification, Hontiveros said the poll body must submit a formal written explanation to the oversight committee in accordance with law.

But she warned that using the AES without certification “would severely affect public confidence in the May 12 elections.”

At the same time, Hontiveros said that the joint oversight committee should also look into recent claims made by Isabela vice-mayoral candidate Jeryll Respicio about the vulnerability of automated counting machines (ACMs).

The Comelec has since filed a criminal complaint against Respicio in relation to his claims.

“The oversight committee can also shed light on alleged vulnerabilities in our AES - especially in procedures related to the counting and transmission of election results,” she said.

“I hope the Comelec will clarify whether the modem should only be attached to the automated counting machines when they are about to transmit election results,” she said.

“In the first version of the Comelec instructions, it seems that the modem will be attached to the automated counting machines only during the testing process and will not be removed,” Hontiveros noted.

The lawmaker said she hopes the Comelec would not be dismissive of nor hostile to citizens, who in good faith, would call out potential means for interference in the country’s automated elections.

“When it comes to automated elections, there is no such thing as security through obscurity. We should listen to all stakeholders on how we can improve the security of our votes, even when it takes the form of criticism,” she stressed.