Comelec has eyes on poll results, to settle issues later

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday insisted that the election results were not altered after the questionable move of tech provider Smartmatic to tweak a part of the script on election day.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in an ambush interview that the poll body will investigate and hold liable parties involved in the incident, which occurred shortly after the start of transmission of votes Monday afternoon.

"Ang mas mahalaga walang naging epekto sa resulta," Jimenez said.

Before his statement, a Smartmatic officer demonstrated to members of the media "very small changes" made on the script due to errors yielded by the use of the letter "ñ."

Jimenez said the minor revision is not the Comelec's foremost concern at the moment.

"Ang pinakamatimbang sa Comelec ngayon ay hindi ‘yung magturo-turo, hindi manisi, kundi siguraduhin muna na malinis at tama ang eleksyon," he added.

READ: Smartmatic liable for breaking protocol with script change, says Guanzon

The script revision was raised by the camp of vice presidential candidate Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos after his rival Camarines Sur Rep. Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo overtook his lead on Tuesday midnight.

The camp of Marcos questioned the timing of what they described as a sudden surge of votes for Robredo after the line of code was changed.

Jimenez said that he understands the sentiments of Marcos’s camp but denied the allegations that there was a manipulation of votes.

"Naiintindihan namin na may ganoong pangamba, but that’s a matter of opinion," he said.

"Sana kapag napakita natin na walang nagbago tigilan na nating ‘yung paulit-ulit na paniniwalang napatunayang hindi naman totoo."

In the latest unofficial tally transmitted by the Comeec's transparency servers, Robredo still sat at the top of vice presidential race with 14,003,003 votes while Marcos was showed to have pulled 13,779,849.

In a separate interview, Commissioner Rowena Guanzon voiced her dismay with the "unauthorized" move by Smartmatic.

Guanzon said that the poll body will look into the contract with the tech provider, saying there could be a breach.