NBI invites Susano to explain allegations of poll irregularities

MANILA, Philippines - Quezon City Rep. Mary Ann Susano was invited by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to explain her allegations of irregularities in the May elections, Justice Secretary Alberto Agra said yesterday.

Agra said Susano is expected to attend the case conference on Monday at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) main office in Intramuros, Manila as a resource person.

Susano lost the mayoralty race to Quezon City Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista in the May 10 automated elections.

Susano claimed she was cheated, saying that the compact flash (CF) memory cards inside the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines used in the elections were preprogrammed to make it appear that Bautista was the winner.

Susano presented some CF cards during a congressional hearing but was not able to sustain her claims that they were the same memory cards that were hacked and used in the elections.

She, however, refused to reveal where she got the CF cards.

“The purpose is to determine if there are lacking or missing CF cards. If there were missing, then we have to know if these were in Quezon City,” Agra said.

Agra stressed that succeeding actions – including possible filing of charges against personalities involved in the issue – would depend on the findings of the investigation.

Agra also revealed that an official of Smartmatic, the firm that provided the PCOS machines, and a Comelec official had already given their statements to the NBI. He did not identify the officials pending the outcome of the investigation. – With Mayen Jaymalin