Palace: No hand in 'Koala Boy'

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang yesterday laughed off claims made by Makati City Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. that it was behind the “Koala Boy” controversy.

Presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo said the allegations made by the supposed witness, whose face mask resembled that of a koala as described by Locsin, were funny and confusing.

The masked witness, whose video was shown during the hearings of the congressional panel led by Locsin that is looking into allegations of electoral fraud, claimed vast knowledge of the supposed hacking operations designed to discredit the automated elections last May 10.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec), on the other hand, said that despite the allegations of massive cheating in the May 10 elections, the poll body’s “trust in the automated election system is complete.”

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said they have faith in the automated system and are even planning to implement it in the elections in 2013.

Jimenez said there is no problem with the automated system but only with the people who operated the system.

He said the May 10 elections served as a lesson for the Comelec to “sharpen our skill, harden our resolve, instead of disheartening us.”

Jimenez said the congressional inquiry into allegations of cheating are keeping the poll officials away from their jobs.

“We cannot schedule our post-election evaluation,” he said.

Jimenez urged sectors questioning the integrity of the elections to formalize their complaints before the Comelec.

Saludo, on the other hand, said the allegations of big time cheating as claimed by Koala Boy are no longer amusing since the media repeatedly played it up, notwithstanding the absence of any proof.

“We have given our statement. We said that reports that present no evidence will not be entertained,” Saludo said.

“A very important principle in journalism is that when there are claims made, the first thing that a journalist should do is to ask the source what is your basis, where is your proof? And when he can’t present anything then this should be disregarded,” he said.

Locsin accused Koala Boy of being an agent of Malacañang as part of an alleged grand scheme to discredit the elections altogether, whoever wins.

After seeing and hearing parts of Koala Boy’s allegations in a video, Locsin vented his ire on the Comelec, particularly on the poll body’s automation provider Smartmatic, even hurling invectives at its officials.

Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar also denied the allegations of Locsin, saying they were unsubstantiated and illogical.

Saludo added it would be a mistake to listen to the allegations of a single person, such as Koala Boy, about the discrepancies in the election returns and allow it to diminish confidence in the results of the elections.

As for the claims made by Locsin, Saludo said the Makati lawmaker must answer the questions being raised by the media, not Malacañang.

“Why are you asking me that? He was the one who said it. You should ask him what his basis is,” an exasperated Saludo said.

Malacañang earlier called on the Comelec to take the lead in investigating the alleged discrepancies and irregularities in the counting of ballots to allow Congress to proclaim the next president and vice president of the country.

While Congress has the right to conduct a probe on alleged discrepancies arising from the May 10 elections, Saludo had said these issues might be best brought before the Comelec.

Saludo expressed concern that the probe being conducted by Locsin at the House of Representatives could delay the process of canvassing of votes and delay the proclamation of the winners of the presidential and vice presidential races.

Comelec has started its probe on some of the complaints, particularly on the reports that most of the portable ultra-violet lamps that were supposed to detect spurious ballots failed to arrive at their designated polling precincts.

Comelec had ordered more than 76,000 units of UV lamps from winning bidder Philand Industries at a contract price of P28 million.

“Admittedly, there were precincts that did not use UV lamps. We also want to find out why because the lamps had been delivered to the provinces. This will be investigated,” Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said.

The government has also conducted a parallel investigation into the allegations of poll fraud, particularly on the reports of tampered compact flash cards in the precinct count optical scan machines (PCOS) that were used in the May 10 elections.

Justice Secretary Alberto Agra said he had formed an investigating team from the Comelec, the Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to look into the allegations of tampered flash cards.

Agra noted the mounting complaints over the tampering of the flash cards, particularly allegations that they had been preprogrammed to recognize only the name of a particular candidate on the ballot.

Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said the poll body was wondering why the flash cards landed in the hands of some unauthorized individuals.

“It would be better for them to turn them over to the Comelec to see if they have been tampered or not. If they are blank, then they are not genuine,” Sarmiento said.

Sarmiento said the flash cards contained only the list of candidates, their positions and the precinct where they are intended to be used.

He noted some of the flash cards were in the possession of Quezon City Rep. Mary Ann Susano, a defeated mayoral candidate.

Jimenez said Susano would be investigated as to how she got hold of the flash cards.

Susano had been complaining that she was cheated in the mayoral race that was won by Herbert Bautista.

She presented some of the flash cards during a House hearing on Friday but refused to answer when asked how she got hold of them.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., on the other hand, criticized the Comelec for failing to sanction officials and employees involved in anomalies over the conduct of the automated elections and irregularities in the purchase or bidding of election materials.

Pimentel said the Comelec should immediately address the mounting complaints and allegations of irregularity.

He said the public might lose faith in the electoral process if the Comelec fails to address the issues.

Pimentel also reminded the Comelec’s volunteer watchdog, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, to discharge its function of exposing poll fraud and other malpractices and in having them corrected as “the people’s eyes and ears on the conduct of the automated election system.”

Pimentel called on the Comelec to investigate the reports that some election materials were found in a junkshop in his hometown in Cagayan de Oro City. - With Sheila Crisostomo, Sandy Araneta, Pia Lee-Brago and Christina Mendez