Comelec chief Garcia charged with 61M counts of cyber-fraud

Comelec Chairman George Garcia has been charged with 61 million counts of cyber-fraud.

- JARIUS BONDOC

Each count fetches imprisonment of six years and one day to 12 years. Plus, minimum P200,000 fine, increasable "to a maximum amount proportionate to the damage caused by the offense."

Garcia was accused of breaking the 2012 Cybercrime Prevention Act. Specifically, "system interference" during the May 12th congressional-local electronic election.

Also impleaded at the NBI last week were Comelec commissioners Aimee Feralino-Ampoloquio, Roy Bulay, Norina Tangaro-Casinga, Nelson Celis, Ernest Maceda and Noli Pipo.

"System interference" supposedly was committed three ways:

• The wrong source code was installed in 110,000 precinct counting machines;

• An unauthorized "intermediary server" called Data Center-3 "consolidated and processed" 55,874,700 votes before transmittal to five transparency servers of PPCRV, NAMFREL, Media, Dominant Majority Party and Dominant Minority Party;

• Comelec by itself "cleaned-up/deleted" what it called "discrepancy" of up to five million votes, without informing beforehand PPCRV, NAMFREL, Media, Dominant Majority Party and Dominant Minority Party.

Those numbers add up to 60,984,705 counts of cyber-fraud.

Complainants are multi-faith hierarchs, retired generals, computer experts, and lawyers:

Catholic Bishops Jose Bagaforo, Roberto Gaa, Gerardo Alminaza, and World Evangelical Alliance Efraim Tendero; former AFP chief Gen. Generoso Senga, retired PNP generals now Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, Wilfredo Franco and Alejandro Camagay, Capt. Roberto Yap, retired Army general and ex-DICT Secretary Eliseo Rio, ex-Comelec commissioner Gus Lagman, former Finex presidents Franklin Ysaac and Edwin Fernandez, Fr. Wilmer Tria, and Attys. Melchor Magdamo, Harold Respicio and Alex Lacson.