MAILBOX: Lies and half-truths

Dear Editor:

In Ms. Mary Ann Ll. Reyes’ Jan. 28, 2015 column entitled “Lack of delicadeza,” she wrote mostly lies and half-truths about me, which I am certain she wouldn’t be able to substantiate.

This is not the first time she had written about me, most of which were either petty or simply unfounded, but I simply ignored the articles because I thought people who know me would not believe her anyway and would deduce that the information was fed by Smartmatic. But this time, she crossed the line between just being a bad journalist to one who’s making malicious and libelous statements.

I hope that in the interest of fairness, Philippine STAR will print and the entire contents of this letter and give it the same, if not even more prominence as her column.

Following are excerpts from her article and my responses:

“… Lagman cannot seem to back up his allegations to discredit the country’s shift to automated elections using the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine supplied by Smartmatic-Tim”.

Not true. Apparently she is unaware of the various fora where I had often enough articulated on why PCOS is not the most appropriate system for our election and how Smartmatic and Comelec have violated the provisions of the election automation law.Or perhaps she has conveniently ignored my position. If she is not aware of it, that’s her problem.

“… Lagman flaunted luxurious lifestyle and amassed questionable wealth since he was ousted from Comelec.”

She better be able to prove this blatant lie. In an interview, Brillantes mentioned that I have a new condo and a new car. That’s a cheap shot that’s only meant to divert the attention of media and the public from him to me. I have enough resources from my savings and legitimate business to undertake a condo project and purchase a car. Ms. Reyes maliciously implies that these investments were made using funds from questionable sources after I left the Comelec. She conveniently ignores however, that when I was with the Comelec, I even returned the Confidential/Intelligence Fund of P1.26 million, which to me smelt of “pork.” Her accusation therefore defies logic.

If Brillantes and Ms. Reyes think that I can’t afford the condo and car on my own, I invite them to check with the BIR the amount of capital gains tax that I paid when I sold my STI shares.

“Lagman, head of the so-called Automated Election System Watch Center (AES-Watch) has critized Comelec’s deals with Smartmatic-TIM which provided the PCOS machines used in the successful 2010 and 2013 elections.”

I don’t head AESWatch.

Both the 2010 and 2013 elections were NOT successful. In 2010, nine percent of the PCOS machines failed to transmit Election Returns data for canvassing; 23 percent in 2013. Safeguards required by law were removed. I ask Ms. Reyes to prove to us that those two elections were successful.

Lagman’s group again challenged Comelec’s decision to avail of Smartmatic’s offer to refurbish the machines for the May 9, 2016 national and local elections, branding it as a midnight deal.

However, Brillantes said this is all just part of an orchestrated move by the same group, Comelec’s regular detractor which is the AES Watch, to discredit and create confusion before the 2016 elections.

It was a midnight deal because he signed the contract just days before he was due to retire on Feb. 2, 2015, instead of waiting for the new Chairman to be appointed. What if the new chairman decides to adopt a different technology? An independent-minded and open-minded chairman can very well make such a decision. Then, so much money would be wasted.

Thanks to the noise we created, Brillantes was prevented from signing the P1.2 billion contract to repair the PCOS machines. Actually, even the P268 million contract that he signed was still too high because Smartmatic was quoted to have said in 2012 that it would only take 20 minutes to fix each unit. For the 82,000 units, that would come out to an average of P3,269 to repair one unit. Too high for 20-minute work.

And, why did Smartmatic initially quote P1.2 billion (as announced by Brillantes) when, as it turns out, they could do it for P268 million? That’s a clear overprice of almost one billion pesos! Wow!

Brillantes also slammed Lagman for complaining too much to media, saying the latter has even resorted to personal attacks to peddle his hidden agenda.

I don’t know what personal attacks Brillantes was talking about. He’s the one who has resorted to personal attacks against me to divert attention from the issues. On the other hand, it is apparent that Ms Reyes again conveniently and sweepingly adopted his dance. I have no hidden agenda. My advocacy has always been made public: that I’d like to see the Comelec implementing the most appropriate automated system for our elections, as required by law.

“I will sit down and sign contracts for as long as I am still the incumbent chairman. Namemersonal na yang si Lagman. Tignan natin ang lifestyle ng bawat isa. Imbistigahan natin kung sino ang may bagong condominiums,” Brillantes said.

Oh, so now, he’s the one resorting to personal attacks! Please ask Brillantes if he also returned the “Intelligence/Confidential Fund” that has distributed during the time I was there.

“For their relentless black propaganda against Smartmatic and PCOS, some of these Comelec bashers have allegedly been rewarded with huge payoffs, including condominiums and brand new cars.

Critics believe that some of these poll watchdogs are fronts for rival firms or groups which are desperately trying to bag Comelec contracts while posing as crusaders for clean and honest elections.”

Not true, of course. In fact, the system we are offering to Comelec is Filipino-designed, free-of-charge, and will only use PCs and laptops which can be bought in any shop. She again better be able to prove the lies that she said.

If Ms. Reyes would only think logically, she would realize how ridiculous her accusations are. Since we’re proposing manual precinct counting, instead of PCOS, who would reward us with huge payoffs? Maybe it’s her motivations which should be questioned because clearly she’s promoting Smartmatic’s interest in her columns on the subject.

“Speaking to ANC’s Headstart, Brillantes challenged the ousted poll commissioner to prove his allegations that the PCOS machines from Smartmatic are easily rigged.”

I accepted the challenged, but he has since written me a letter rejecting the demonstration. Parenthetically, I was not oustead. Brillantes through Ms Reyes makes it appear that I was unceremoniously removed. The public knows this is not true.

“Brillantes said it is unethical for Lagman to criticize Comelec since the latter is a former Commissioner.”

“I have never responded much to what he is saying because he was ousted from Comelec when he was not reappointed, pero ethics demand na kung galing ka na dun sa commission, hindi mo na tinitira,” he said.

It is not unethical for a private citizen to tell the public about the violations of the law that the Comelec and Smartmatic committed. I would be remiss in my obligations as a citizen and as an IT professional if I were to just sit back and do nothing knowing that illegal and nonsensical things are happening and that taxpayer money is being waste.

I tried to convince the Comelec to decide correctly when I was still with the Commission, but I was either outvoted or largely ignored.

“The poll chief said that instead of attacking Comelec publicly, Lagman should just show up at the poll body’s office and show how the rigging could be done.”

“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.” … “If it is easily rigged, it is his obligation and it is his duty to come to us and show it to us.”

Not true. I told them the defects of the system when I was still a Commissioner, but I was ignored. I would always outvoted by the six lawyers who know very little about automated systems.

“Previously, Brillantes challenged Lagman to a debate after the latter said in radio interviews that the absence of a source code that could be reviewed by political parties and interested groups would cast doubt on the results of the automated elections.”

I don’t think he ever challenged me to a debate. If he did, I would have readily agreed. I only say things that I can prove.

“The problem is that the other parties interested to bid for contracts relating to the 2016 elections cannot seem to come up with qualifying bids.”

“It was shown that Indra Sistema’s single argest contract, the 2013 Argentine polls project, did not meet the requirements to qualify the company to bid for the contract.”

“Lawyer Ruby Rose Yusi, lead counsel for Smartmatic which was declared eligible to bid by the Comelec Bids and Award Committee (there are only two bidders), pointed out that Indra’s Argentina project did not use any OMR or optical scan systems.”

While we are opposed to the OMR solutions of both Smartmatic and Indra, it is only fair to inform the public that Smartmatic also did not have any experience with OMR when they were awarded the 2010 contract.

In closing, it is rather unfortunate that Ms Reyes never bothered to analyze and present my position accurately. Responsible journalism connotes commentary founded on reliable sources and a balanced view on the issues. While I would not be surprised if she continues to trumpet the stance of the ex-Chairman and Smartmatic at my expense, I’d like to remind her that malicious insinuations and statements have no place in responsible journalism.