MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) dismissed claims raised in an impending impeachment complaint against its officials, saying the issues are “not new” and have been repeatedly clarified to the public, while reiterating the integrity of past elections.

“Ang mga isyu o paratang na ito ay hindi na bago at paulit-ulit nang binigyang-linaw ng Comelec sa paraang maiintindihan ng publiko (These issues or allegations are not new and have already been repeatedly clarified by the Commission on Elections in a manner understandable to the public),” the commission said in a statement.

The complaint is set to be filed before the House of Representatives against Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia and six commissioners by lawyers Eldridge Marvin B. Aceron and Sikini S. Labastilla. It raises concerns over the conduct of automated elections, including the alleged use of an unreviewed source code, an unauthorized intermediary server, a single private IP address for vote transmission, and selective enforcement of campaign finance laws.

Comelec rejected all claims, saying election procedures complied with legal and technical standards. On the first allegation, the poll body denied that the software version used in Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) bypassed source code review. It said the final version, 3.5.0, underwent a Local Source Code Review by accredited citizens’ arms, IT groups, and independent experts, and was audited by Pro V&V, an international certification entity based in Alabama, United States.

Regarding the alleged “Data Center 3” intermediary server, Comelec clarified that the facility houses five independent transparency servers operated by key election stakeholders, including political parties, accredited citizens’ arms, and media organizations. It said all servers functioned independently, and none acted as an intermediary server receiving election results.

The commission also addressed concerns over the use of a single private IP address, 192.168.0.2, across 20,300 vote-counting machine modems during the 2022 elections. It said the configuration was tested, certified, and did not affect accuracy or transmission of results, and that assigning unique IP addresses to each modem would have been impractical.

On the issue of campaign finance, Comelec denied allegations of selective enforcement favoring certain senators, citing the cases of Senators Francis Escudero and Rodante Marcoleta, which underwent thorough review. Chairman Garcia inhibited himself from these cases to avoid conflicts of interest.

The commission said it is prepared to face the complaint “with courage and dignity” and reaffirmed its commitment to conducting elections that are free, fair, honest, orderly, credible, and transparent.