MANILA -- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) held a live test of the so-called trusted build generation of the election management system (EMS) that will be used for the 2025 elections with the virtual participation of an international certifying entity, citizens’ arms and election watchdog groups.

The trusted build is aimed at ensuring the integrity, security, and accuracy of the automated election system and involves the compiling of the final, verified, and approved source codes into “executable machine-readable code” that will be deployed in the election systems.

The Comelec said it also aims to ensure transparency and integrity, safeguard against alterations, and build public trust, following a requirement of the law.

The trusted build is overseen by the technical evaluation committee with participation from international certification entities, local source code review teams, political parties and election watchdogs, and Comelec technical and legal teams.

The US-based Pro V&V international certification entity serves as the independent entity that will validate the technical soundness and security of the AES, the results of which are expected by January 2025, according to Comelec chairman George Garcia.

“Tungkol ito sa transparency, tungkol ito sa gusto natin lahat. Alam natin kung paano gagana yung ating mga makina, yung ating mga sistema pag dating ng election. Hindi lang ito yung machine, kasama na rito ang consolidation system, ang transmission, ang internet voting natin lahat,” Garcia said.

He added, “Yun bang source code na pinakita natin sa publika, ang utak ng sistema na gagamitin natin, ay talaga bang at par doon sa TOR (terms of reference), yun ba ay nag comply sa terms of reference natin? Number 2, doon sa requirement mismo ng international certifying body at number 3 doon sa mga sinusuggest sa atin ng ating mga citizens arm at stakeholder. Yan ba ay handa na para gamitin sa araw ng eleksyon?”

Meanwhile, Garcia said the printing of ballots for the 2025 elections will proceed as scheduled on January 6.

He said the initial batch of ballots will be printed in the National Printing Office beginning at 1AM on that day, including the ballots that will be used for the Bangsamoro parliamentary elections.

Mock elections are expected to be conducted by the second week of January and teacher’s training in February.

OVCS ISSUES

Garcia also noted there are some “issues” observed in the Online Voting and Counting System (OVCS) which will be used for the May 2025 overseas voting and hopes the supplier SMS Global Technologies, Inc. & Sequent Tech Inc. would address them by January.

Garcia said the issues include difficulty in the system of pre-enrollment of the overseas voters which has been observed in the ongoing test period for the OVCS.

“Madaming issues ang OVCS… Nangako namin itong Sequent na lahat ng issues ay tatapusin nila by January 3. Sasagutin nila ang lahat ng yan. Sana nga masagot nila para maging maayos ang certification ng Pro V&V,” he said.

“Kailangan ayusin yung sa issue ng enrollment ng mga kababayan natin na registered voter abroad. May mga pagkakataon noong una, hindi kaagad tanggap pag eenroll nila. Kailangan i-manually enrol at hindi electronic ang enrollment… May mga kababayan na hindi renewed ang kanilang passports Kaya ang mga kababayan natin na TNT… o yung ginamit nilang ID, hindi naman pala yun ang kinikilala ng system… yan po ay inayos lahat, ginawan pero mayroon pa pong ilang issues pa na kailangan isubmit ng Sequent sa Pro V&V,” he added.

“Ang registration magsisimila naman sa February. Ang mga nagte test lang, meron minsan na ilan hindi pumapasok yung kanilang registration. Ayaw natin ng ganun… dapat sa first try pa lang hanggat maaari maka rehistro na ang mga kababayan natin. Mahirap naman na naka 3 or 4 na silang tries tapos hindi pa makapag register. Baka kasi mawalan na sila ng interes, hindi na magparegister. Ang magandang efficient na sistema, sa first try pa lang, dapat registered na.”