Party-list groups urge Comelec to release info on data logs

“We wanted to manifest this on the floor, not to delay the canvassing but to point out why we need the data logs because some voters reported they weren’t able to see the party-list they voted in their receipts,” Aaron Pedrosa, legal representative of the Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), told reporters in an interview Wednesday. (File Photo: Jose Pedrosa/Facebook)

MANILA — Some party-list groups urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to release the information on the election data logs to determine no irregularities have taken place during this year’s mid-term polls.

“We wanted to manifest this on the floor, not to delay the canvassing but to point out why we need the data logs because some voters reported they weren’t able to see the party-list they voted in their receipts,” Aaron Pedrosa, legal representative of the Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), told reporters in an interview Wednesday.

“Even in our bailiwicks, the votes of PLM party-list is too low, it’s as if our membership were decimated,” he added.

Pedrosa, together with the legal counsel of the Murang Kuryente and Akbayan party-lists as well as APPEND (Alliance of Philippine Partners in Enterprise Development) Partylist legal representative Romel Bagares, raised the issue during the canvassing of votes at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

This drew the ire of Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, who said only objections and concerns about the canvass can be heard during the session.

Explaining his side, Bagares, the legal counsel speaking at that time, said there is no such restriction in the rules of canvassing.

“Ako po ay nagpapaumanhin kay Commissioner Guanzon kung ‘di niya naintindahan ang aking sinasabi dahil siguro sa mikropono pero ‘yong ibang commissioners ay narinig po ang sinabi ko, humingi po ako ng permiso (I want to apologize to Commissioner Guanzon if she wasn’t able to understand what I was saying maybe because of the microphone, but the other commissioners heard what I said),” he said.

“Wala naman pong ipinagbabawal sa ating rules of canvassing para gumawa po ng ganoong manifestation and motion (The rules of canvassing does not indicate any restriction that you cannot make such manifestation and motion),” he added.

Audit logs show the movement or operational activities of vote counting machine (VCM) from the first day of the polls until the last transmission process.

On Tuesday, Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said he would recommend the sharing of these audit logs with reviewers.

“Just to make sure that nothing happens in the system in the transparency server, I am proposing to the Comelec en banc that all the audit logs and system logs of the transparency server be shared with our local source reviewers and even to the media if they want,” he said.