Article by:
Joann Villanueva
MANILA – Monetary officials have assured the public of the security of source codes that will be used for the May national and local elections, saying these will be escrowed with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
In a virtual event for the signing of the escrow agreement between the BSP and the Comelec on Monday, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said the central bank has kept source codes for four elections already, conducted in 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019.
“All source codes were deposited in the BSP’s vault. BSP guarantees that the vault assigned to Comelec is secured by a series of metal locks and combination codes, and the keys to the metal locks, as well as the combination codes are under the sole custody of Comelec officials, to ensure that the source code will not be tampered by anyone and will remain unaltered, thus preserving the legitimacy of the elections,” he said.
Republic Act 9369, otherwise known as the automated election law, requires the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to place the source codes in escrow with the central bank.
The Comelec has yet to determine when the source code will be turned over to BSP for safekeeping and executives of both offices said the ceremony will be open for media coverage.
Diokno said the central bank is “willing and ready to accept such deposit” anew in line with the need to protect the integrity of the source codes for the upcoming polls.
“BSP fully supports and looks forward to the conduct of the coming elections in a manner that demonstrates the highest standards of integrity, for the benefit of all Filipinos,” he said.
During the same event, BSP general counsel lawyer Elmore Capule said the source code will be placed in a secured vault under the central bank complex.
“So it’s already a secured place that’s why the law specifically directed the BSP to have custody. So we are just going to implement our usual protocols in securing sensitive materials like the source code. There’s nothing more that the BSP will do,” he said. (PNA)
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