The Smartmatic employee involved in the alleged security breach in its system is now under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation.
“We were already given a copy of his sworn affidavit,” Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said.
It was not clear whether the employee surrendered or was accosted.
Senator Imee Marcos, chairman of the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms, on Thursday said the data of Smartmatic—the software contractor of the Commission on Elections for the May 9 polls—might have been hacked.
Sotto said the employee was “not disgruntled.”
“He was corrupted. He was offered money,” Sotto said.
The Palace on Friday said President Rodrigo Duterte will make sure the May 9 national and local elections will be free of cheating amid revelations of the supposed “breach” in the system of Smartmatic.
“President Duterte will do everything to ensure clean, fair, and honest elections,” acting presidential spokesperson and Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said.
Meanwhile, the party of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD), is taking the reported breach of Smartmatic data seriously.
In an ambush interview on the sidelines of her sorties in Cebu Friday, vice presidential candidate Duterte-Carpio confirmed Lakas-CMD was looking into the data breach via its legal team.
“Yes we have already held a meeting with our legal team in the Lakas-Christian Democrats,” she said.
Andanar said Duterte had directed his Cabinet, as well the teachers serving as poll workers in the May 9 elections, to protect the integrity of elections.
Marcos, whose brother Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is vying for the country’s top post in tandem with Duterte-Carpio, raised alarm over the “very serious” security breach, considering the “degree, depth, and breadth of data” that has been released and made available to the public.
But the Comelec maintained Thursday the automated election system was not hacked.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez expressed confidence that the hacking claims would not affect the election results.
Meanwhile, social media giant Twitter has partnered with the Comelec to promote healthy conversation and fight misinformation in connection with the upcoming polls.
The partnership also aims to amplify voter education initiatives on the policy, product, and partnership front to protect the integrity of election-centric conversations on Twitter and encourage healthy civic debate.
“With a record-breaking 65.7 million registered voters, the Philippines is expected to hold one of the largest elections in Asia. During this most important time for us as a nation; collaboration between governments, industry partners, and civic organizations is crucial to protect the integrity of the elections. We are pleased to be partnering with Twitter to fight misinformation and encourage voter participation,” a press release from Twitter quoted Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez as saying on Friday.
