MANILA, Philippines – Calling the opposition’s plea a delaying tactic, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday, May 16, denied anomalies over the deleted file on which the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) based its latest complaint.

The Comelec, sitting as the national board of canvassers (NBOC), promulgated a resolution on Thursday to address the “unauthorized access and manipulation” of an election file.

UNA said a Smartmatic personnel “inadvertently deleted” a regional election file, prompting the coalition to ask the NBOC to suspend the proclamation on Thursday.

The NBOC, however, said the allegedly unauthorized access and manipulation “is, in fact, part of the authorized maintenance procedure of the servers conducted by authorized Smartmatic personnel.” The NBOC said this should ensure the “proper functioning” of the servers.

“There is nothing abnormal, anomalous, or irregular with the said procedure,” said the NBOC in Resolution 0001-13, which was released to the media shortly after poll chief Sixto Brillantes Jr said the Comelec has junked UNA’s motion.

‘Delaying proceedings’

Besides, the NBOC said, even if UNA’s claim is proven true, it will not directly affect the NBOC’s canvassing proceedings. The NBOC explained it bases its canvass and proclamation on provincial or city certificates of canvass (COCs), not on the election returns received by the the Transparency and Comelec Central Servers.

The NBOC said election results received and published through the Transparency Server, which is used by media groups like Rappler, and the Comelec Central Server remain “unofficial.”

“The NBOC notes that this petition was filed clearly to delay the proceedings. Movant based its allegations merely on hearsays like newspaper accounts, unfounded suspicions, and the lack of knowledge of the system it attempts to discredit.”

In its resolution, the NBOC also criticized claims that votes which failed to transmit electronically remain unaccounted for. The board said denounced these statements as “false, misleading, and without basis.”

The board deflected criticisms that the canvassing process is delayed. It said the current transmission rate is “normal and regular,” and even “considerably faster” than in 2010, when it took the NBOC two days to start the canvassing and 5 days to proclaim the first set of senators.

The NBOC will proclaim the first 6 senators on Thursday, three days after the midterm elections.

Based on the latest official count, the composition of the senate is likely 9-3 in favor of the administration ticket, Team PNoy. – Rappler.com