Bongbong Marcos sues Comelec and Smartmatic for alleged script change.
The camp of senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. filed a complaint against Smartmatic officials and Commission on Elections (Comelec) Information Technology (IT) Department representatives.
See Also: Commissioner Slams Smartmatic for Breaking Comelec Protocol
On Wednesday, the campaign adviser of vice presidential candidate Abakada-Guro Rep. Jonathan dela Cruz filed a complaint at the Manila Prosecutor’s office for violation of Section 4, Chapter II of Republic Act 10175, also known as the “Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2010.”
The charges stemmed from the alleged unauthorized script change in the transparency server on May 9 election while the transmission of votes are going.
According to Inquirer, the respondents were Comelec IT officer Rouie Peñalba and two other personnel Frances Gonzalez and Nelson Herrera; Smartmatic Executive Marlon Garcia, Project Director Elie Moreno, Technical Support Team Member Neil Banigued and Smartmatic personnel Mauricio Herrera.
Head of Marcos legal team Atty. Amor Amordao said that an IT personnel allowed the Smartmatic to access the system without the authority from Comelec.
“All of them were present inside the room when Garcia introduced the script since Comelec IT allowed him to that..There is consent given without authority from Comelec,” he was quoted saying.
Reports said that the Smartmatic allegedly altered the script in the transparency server to correct the “ñ” in the names of candidates. Comelec and Smartmatic earlier claimed that the results were not affected.
Atty. Amorado also added that they have enough evidence to prove their claims based from the statement of Comelec that the script was changed without authorization.
Senator Marcos is still in a close fight with Camarines Sur Leni Robredo in the vice presidential race.