Commonsense POGO-litics

The Comelec though cannot afford to ignore the looming threats of generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisting election frauds. It was Senator Sherwin Gatchalian who first raised the alarm bells of potential risks of online scam hubs using licenses issued by the government to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGOs) that threaten the integrity of the upcoming mid-term elections in May next year. In the same category of so-called “narco-politics,” Sen. Gatchalian is particularly worried the very lucrative criminal activities of POGOs could enable them to influence, if not dictate who will become the new elected leaders in our country.

As the chairman of the Senate committee on ways and means, Sen. Gatchalian jointly investigated the POGO in Bamban, Tarlac along with the Senate committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality chaired by Sen. Risa Hontiveros. Gatchalian fears the widening reach of transnational criminal syndicates that were coming out of the Senate investigation in the POGO establishment in Bamban that was raided last March 13.

At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay last Wednesday, Sen.Gatchalian presented the specific case of now very controversial Bamban Mayor Alice Guo. Sen. Gatchalian disclosed their Senate probes discovered more discrepancies in her birth certificate and family details. The Senator noted a lot of questionable entries in other supposed official documents she submitted to the Senate to prove she is a Filipino along with the various companies and business interests registered under the Guo family.

Sen. Gatchalian noted with concern that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is seemingly helpless to detect and prevent people with similar dubious records to secure such “powerful document” like the birth certificate. He pointed out Mayor Guo submitted the same questionable birth certificate when she run and won as Mayor of Bamban in the last May 2022 elections.

And the worse part of this, Sen. Gatchalian rued, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has only “ministerial” function in accepting birth certificates as among the documents required in the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) by individuals wanting to run for elective posts.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) himself asserted Mayor Guo is not known to political circles not only in Bamban but in the entire province of Tarlac prior to the POGO raid incident. PBBM further revealed that government authorities have been investigating Mayor Guo for some time already after the raid initially reported suspected “online scamming hub.”

The raiders led by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) discovered illegal activities operating inside a ten-hectare lot compound whose registered owners included Mayor Guo. Found inside the compound are 37 building structures located behind the municipal office of the Bamban Mayor, Gatchalian added. The property was leased by the Guo-owned Baofu Land Development Inc. to the POGO entity. During the first public hearing of the Senate last May 7, Mayor Guo claimed she sold already her ownership shares from Baofu.

The joint Senate investigation was prompted by five related Senate Resolutions, three of which were filed by Sen. Gatchalian that sought inquiry in aid of legislation on the reported cyber fraud operations, human trafficking, serious illegal detention and physical abuse and torture in the POGO hubs in a series of raids done by law enforcement authorities.

Former Caloocan Congressman Edgar Erice could not agree more with the concerns of Sen. Gatchalian in the light of the recent action of the Supreme Court (SC) that cited Comelec “for grave abuse of discretion” in the matter of holding next year’s mid-term polls using an “untested” new automated election system (AES). Erice joined our conversations at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum two days after the SC granted his petition for certiorari against the Comelec’s P17.9-billion joint venture contract with Miru Systems Co. Ltd of South Korea.

Per Miru’s track record, Erice noted with concern, the company software for the election system to be used here in the Philippines was developed by the Russia State University. Erice admitted being worried that Russia has been accused in the past of allegedly trying to subvert the presidential elections in the United States and is a known ally of China.

“With the POGO system infrastructure that Chinese companies have put up here, they pose dangers to our elections in choosing leaders who would be friendly to them,” Erice warned.

Erice insisted there is enough time for the Comelec to scrap the contract with Miru and just use the refurbished automated vote counting machines (VCMs) that the Comelec already owns. In particular, Erice pointed to the over 88,000 VCMs turned over to the Comelec by their previous AES provider Smartmatic TIM Corp. After being used in the last May 2022 presidential elections, these VCMs were stored at the Comelec warehouse in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, Erice cited.

Erice recalled the Comelec certified these VCMs remain “in good working conditions” on inspections done last year. Another 8,000 VCMs were turned over by Smartmatic to Comelec and gave them one-year warranty until November 2025 for repair and maintenance, he narrated. But a few months later, the Comelec disqualified Smartmatic from participating in any public bidding for elections.

The Smartmatic immediately questioned their disqualification before the High Court. On April 17 this year, the 15-man SC unanimously reversed the Comelec. However, the SC clarified its ruling is “prospective in application” so as not to disrupt the Comelec’s preparations for the national and local elections.

At the same news forum, Art Samaniego, Tech senior officer of the Manila Bulletin and co-convenor of ScamWatch Pilipinas, shared the concerns of both Sen. Gatchalian and Erice on the dangers posed by technology-driven election system. It was Samaniego who first exposed in late 2022 the data hacking that victimized the Comelec but which the poll body vehemently denied. Samaniego was “vindicated” when the Comelec eventually reported and sought the help of the National Bureau of Investigation to go after the hackers.

The Comelec though cannot afford to ignore the looming threats of generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisting election frauds.

With the dangers of POGO-litics taking roots in our country, the Comelec should not just stop at punishing candidates who use AI and deep fakes in their campaign to win in elections.

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