The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) on Friday said the Smartmatic data that was leaked is not related to the May 9 local and national elections.
"They emphasized that the data leak does not have anything to do with the elections in 2022,” he said in a press briefing.
“What was leaked were data concerning their internal organization and activities. So they assured us that the security of the ballot, the configured SD card was not compromised by that leakage,” he added.
Pangarungan also added that the poll body is also waiting for the official report from the National Bureau of Investigation )NBI) before taking action against Smartmatic.
Smartmatic is the provider of automated elections system and vote-counting machines for the 2022 polls.
Last month, during a House briefing, Smartmatic Legal Counsel Christopher Louie Ocampo assured the public that the upcoming national and local elections would remain 100% safe and secure.
Ocampo also emphasized that Comelec’s own servers and infrastructure are separate and distinct from theirs.
Some senators have earlier expressed concern over the reported breach involving Smartmatic. Among them were Senate President Vicente Sotto III, who is running for vice president, and Sen. Imee Marcos.
Meanwhile, Smartmatic spokesperson Christian Robert Lim confirmed Pangarungan's remark.
"Only one former Smartmatic employee is involved and has been meted with disciplinary action without prejudice to any criminal and civil action that will and may be filed by Smartmatic," Lim said.
"We can assure that no information related to the Philippine Elections 2022 was leaked," he noted.
