Wait For The Source Code, Worry About Lawyers, Sabotage and Forgetful Teachers
I have trained teenagers and young adults for Communications Ministry work at our parish here in Kamuning, Quezon City. They now have the ministry reins while I have assumed a behind-the-scenes advisory role to the priests and help out in special church projects like benefit concerts and raising funds for disaster relief.
Every now and then, I write Letters to the Editor which I send to newspapers and websites. The Letters I share have a constant. I always follow-through on ideas I put forth by proposing specific means by which those ideas can be achieved now and in the future. In my book, if an idea is not doable, it is worthless and should not be presented at all.
For example, a recent Letter that a major broadsheet saw fit to publish is one proposing that the national government set-up a Strategic Fuel Inventory System consisting of fuel stockpiles. The government can release supplies from this system to stabilize or bring down fuel prices. When the market has a lot of supply, prices will go down. The government already does something like this with rice through the National Food Authority. I also proposed that an improved Oil Price Stabilization Fund (OPSF) be established so government can exert some policy influence on fuel prices.
Months before that, I proposed that government hire thousands of people to plant trees all over the country to reduce unemployment and address forest denudation. Some legislators and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources heeded this advice. A few billions of pesos were added to the 2009 budget for tree-planting and hiring of people in upland communities to do the job.
Recently, I had the opportunity to learn directly from Smartmatic TIM how they intend to help the Comelec implement poll automation in May 2010. There were many others in the function room for the briefing.
One very significant aspect of the Smartmatic TIM project is the use of Linux as the computer operating system that will run the vote counting machines, computers and systems. This got me excited because I use one popular version of Linux and other software like it.
So when someone else during the briefing raised his concern about viruses, I knew that virus infection will not be an issue in May 2010. Linux does not automatically activate or execute virus files. Linux is a type of software that runs computers in much the same way that Microsoft's Windows does for personal computers and laptops. However, most computer viruses attack Windows and other Microsoft software. That is partly what viruses are designed for.
Linux happens to be dirt-cheap compared to any version of Windows. The Linux for laptops and PCs are downloadable for free from many websites and it can be installed by competent computer students and technicians. Linux for more powerful computers like servers come at only a fraction of the cost of Windows. I will not state here what versions of Linux will be used for the May 2010 elections. Not necessary because this is not a tech website anyway.
I understand that a group calling itself the Center for People Empowerment in Governance or CenPEG has petitioned the Supreme Court to compel the Comelec to release the source codes that Smartmatic TIM will use.
CenPEG is represented in the petition by Atty. Aquilino Pimentel III. CenPEG experts include: Dr. Jaime D. L. Caro, Faculty and Chair, Department of Computer Science, UP College of Engineering; Prof Rommel P. Feria, faculty of the Department of Computer Science, UP College of Engineering, Dr. Regina Estuar, Chair of the Department of Information Systems and Computer Science of Ateneo de Manila University, Prof Sherwin Ona, Chair of the IT department of the De La Salle College of Computer Studies and Angelito Averia, Jr., an IT expert and Systems Security Analyst, president of the Philippine Computer Emergency Response Team (PhCERT) who have all committed to help in the SOURCE CODE review group along with CenPEG's pool of independent IT experts led by Dr. Pablo Manalastas.
From what I gather, the automated election system (AES), including the software, is still being customized for our very specific purposes on election day next May. The customized software code is what should be scrutinized not the generic version of it because the generic code will not work the way we need it to. Why not wait for the Comelec's quality assurance process to work itself out? I note that the Poll Automation Law gives the Comelec until three months before election day to certify the technology that will be used in May 2010. Certification means the certifier attests that the technology will work as specifically designed.
After the whole poll automation system is delivered and accepted, the candidates, political parties, media and general public have three months to evaluate that system. That time frame will also be the window of opportunity for any election cheaters out there to find ways to crack the system. Can the cheaters do it? Possible, but knowing how tough Linux systems are, not likely.
I am more concerned about the stability of the power supply and telecom systems all over the country during voting, counting and proclamation. I suggest that the Comelec place the Napocor, electric cooperatives, Meralco, National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, and Transmission Corporation (Transco) and the telecom firms under its control and supervision in May 2010. Saboteurs might try to cut off power and telecom services to parts of the country as they have in the past.
I have my doubts about the ability of teachers who will serve at the election precincts to operate the vote counting machines. Some are bound to forget their training on the use of the machines in much the same way that they make mistakes when using their ATM cards. There are assurances that technical support people will be deployed to help the teachers. I hope the teachers and technicians will not be overpowered by the watchers and lawyers who will swarm around them to cause distractions or confusion.
My most serious apprehensions are about the lawyers who will be at the canvassing of the precinct results. Some of them will likely use every trick they know to subvert poll automation. It will be very difficult for them to doctor the precinct results because all the precinct data will be available on a website that will be set-up to allow everyone to monitor the progress of the election every step of the way and anywhere in the country. The watchers will also have printouts from the precincts which can be used to verify every data entry at the canvassing.
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