The complete software that will be used to automate the 2022 Philippine elections was officially turned over to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday, December 8.

The thumb drives containing the source code of the final software will be deposited in escrow of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), as required by the Poll Automation Law.

The turnover from the Comelec to the BSP will likely take place in January as the central bank is not yet prepared as of Wednesday, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez also told GMA News’ Joseph Morong in a phone interview.

In the meantime, the thumb drives are in the vault of the Comelec’s Information Technology Department (ITD).

“This deposit of the source code in escrow of BSP is to ensure there is a trusted copy of the final trusted build, and will not be open to tampering or any possible alteration of anyone,” Jimenez said in a virtual observation of the official turnover of the final software to the Comelec on Wednesday.

“It is a very important security and transparency measure,” he added.

The FTB – a process which basically compiles multiple components of the automated election system (AES) into one set of instructions through the conversion of codes – took place in Huntsville, Alabama on December 3.

Overseeing the process was the Alabama-based Pro V&V, which was tapped by the Comelec for the second consecutive national elections to certify that the AES software is operating accurately.

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The important files that were generated from the FTB were stored in thumb drives, which Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo, who personally witnessed the process, handed over to the ITD when he returned to Manila on Wednesday morning.

The final software will be tested during the mock elections that will be held in Metro Manila and six other provinces on December 29. – Rappler.com