Brillantes invites Lagman to prove PCOS results can be altered

Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. (left) presents the proposed Comelec Budget for 2015 during the House Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday (Sept. 4, 2014) at the House of Representatives in Batasan Hills, Quezon City. In right photo is Palawan 3rd District Rep. Douglas S. Hagedorn. (PNA photos by Gil S. Calinga)

MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has asked former poll commissioner Gus Lagman to prove his claims that the results of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines can be altered.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said he has sent a letter to his former colleague to sit down with the commission en banc.

“I said, it is your duty as former Comelec commissioner that you should inform us on how it can be easily tampered. Turuan niya kami ‘kako para mapag-preparahan namin yan (teach us, I said, so we can prepare) for 2016 since we will be using the same machines. So we invited him na pumunta siya dito at pakita mo sa amin yan,” he said.

Brillantes noted that Lagman did not mentioned this issue during his stint at the Comelec.

“He was in the Comelec for 10 months. He never said this. He never mentioned PCOS machines being rigged, which could be easily rigged, that is the adjective there. He did say you can probably manipulate it but not easily. Now he is saying it is very easy and I dare him to show it to us,” the poll body chief added.

With this, Brillantes said if Lagman failed to prove his claims, he asked the latter to stop criticizing the office, he was once part of.

“Hindi ko naman siya ide-demanda pero sasabihin ko lang na huwag ka na magsasalita kung hindi naman pala totoo sinasabi mo (I’m not going to sue him, but I will tell him to avoid talking if what he’s going to say isn’t true),” he said.

Lagman was not re-appointed by President Aquino to the post in March 2012. He has since joined poll watchdog groups in opposing the use of voting machines.

On the other hand, Lagman said he is ready to prove that the PCOS machines can be tampered easily.

But, he requested that a programmer of Smartmatic-TIM should also be there.

“I accept the challenge on the condition na magpapunta din ng (to dispatch a) Smartmatic programmer na marunong (who knows how to) mag-modify ng PCOS computer program kasi sinasabi ko naman na ang (because what I’m talking about is the) danger ay (of)  internal tampering,” Lagman added.