News Roundup 03 November 2022
Nov 03, 2022 • 5 min Read
SC urged to order preservation of May elections data for potential scrutiny | PHILSTAR.COM – A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court urging it to compel the preservation of data transmitted on the evening of May 9, election day for national and local positions in the Philippines. Petitioners, led by former Information and Communications Technology Undersecretary Eliseo Rio, also asked the SC to issue a temporary restraining order to enjoin respondents Commission on Elections, Smartmatic and telecommunications companies Dito, Globe and Smart to desist from modifying or erasing the following data, transmitted from 7 p.m. to p.m. on May 9, related to the 2022 election results:
- Part or the whole of the historically important subscriber [data]
- Cyber traffic data log integrity
- Call record details
They also asked the SC to direct telecommunications companies to “deliver faithful copies of their respective records/details of the said historically-important data directly and exclusively to the Honorable Supreme Court.” “Mandamus is proper for petitioners that invoke their constitutional rights to suffrage and to information in compelling Comelec to explain fully the complete details of its preparations in view of the unraveling of alarming events of late,” the petition read. The petitioners noted that, under the Election Automation Law, the Comelec is mandated to submit a report within six months of the election, while the Cybercrime Prevention Act requires preservation of subscriber information and traffic data integrity for at least six months. “The period of six months (from the May 9, 2022 elections) is soon to expire within a few days from today [or] on the 9th of November. Time is of the essence,” their plea read. The petitioners cited a post by Rio where he pointed out that the first counting result of 1,525,637 votes from at least 2,000 clustered precincts were shown on the Comelec Transparency Server just 17 minutes after voting closed at 7 p.m. But Rio noted that under the Comelec General Instructions, eight printed and signed copies of the precinct election return must be first done before transmission can be made. He claimed that it would take at least 30 minutes after closing time for these processes to be done. “The earliest transmission then would occur after 7:30 p.m. It is therefore impossible for the Transparency Server to have shown the public 1.5M votes bby 7:17 pm!,” the plea, quoting Rio’s post, read. The Congress declared President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as the winner of the May 9 elections on May 25, with a majority vote of more than 31 million. Rival candidates accepted the poll results and did not raise allegations of irregularities or fraud.
NUJP calls on gov’t to address culture of impunity for crimes vs journalists | INQUIRER.NET – The government should bolster its efforts to solve crimes against journalists, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said Thursday. NUJP’s statement came in light of the maintained ranking of the Philippines as the seventh worst country in prosecuting journalists’ murderers, with 14 unsolved killings from September 1, 2012, to August 31, 2022, according to the annual report of global media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). “Despite potential differences with how government agencies like the Philippine National Police classify cases, the lack of convictions adds to making journalism a dangerous profession in the Philippines,” it said. The group also pointed out that the CPJ Global Impunity Index, published on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, became more timely as the government continues its probe on the brazen assassination of radioman-vlogger Percival Mabasa, more popularly known as Percy Lapid. “While we welcome initiatives by the government to engage with journalists and to look into their safety and security, NUJP holds that the resolution of cases of attacks against our colleagues, as well as the assurance that threats against us will be taken seriously are among the best ways to ensure that we can report without fear of reprisal,” NUJP noted. It then expressed hopes that the CPJ report “are not dismissed as propaganda and will instead prompt the government to redouble efforts to solve the cases.” NUJP further said it trusts that the community of independent journalists will continue tracking the developments in the case of Lapid and Renato Blanco – another radio broadcaster who was stabbed to death in Negros Oriental last September – but also demand justice in other pending cases of journalist killings in the country, including that of Dr. Gerry Ortega and the victims of the Ampatuan Massacre victims, which were not included in the murders examined by the CPJ.
LTO revokes licenses of two drivers who hit street sweeper, kids in Parañaque City | INQUIRER.NET –The licenses of two drivers have been revoked after they were found guilty of reckless driving for bumping two children – killing one of them, and running over a street sweeper in Parañaque City. The Land Transportation Office (LTO) said it canceled the driver’s licenses of Raymond Zapirain and Rodolfo Cudiamat and held them liable for the administrative violation of reckless driving as they were tagged as “improper persons to operate motor vehicles.” Zapirain and Cudiamat were also ordered to pay fines of P2,000 and were perpetually disqualified from securing a driver’s license and driving a motor vehicle, according to the regulatory office. The LTO noted that Zapirain is the registered owner and driver of the SUV that hit and seriously injured 63-year-old street sweeper Doreen Bacus last September 24 in Barangay BF Homes, Parañaque City. The incident was caught on CCTV, which showed the street sweeper doing her job while on the side of the road and Zapirain suddenly bumping her. The victim was then dragged and eventually ran over by the vehicle. Cudiamat, on the other hand, was the driver of a vehicle involved in another hit-and-run incident where one of the two victims died. Last September 20, two children were walking along Bodoni Street corner Extra Street, Fourth Estate, Brgy. San Antonio, also in Parañaque City, when they were hit by Cudiamat’s vehicle, resulting in the death of a three-year-old. “Our roads have no room for these ill-disciplined drivers who continue to ignore our traffic laws, even to the point of feigning innocence that what happened was an accident,” LTO Chief Teofilo Guadiz said in a statement Thursday. “Traffic laws are in place for the safety of both motorists and pedestrians, and the LTO cannot allow these drivers to continue operating motor vehicles without regard to safety. They must suffer the consequences of their actions,” he added.
