THE Final Trusted Build Source Code of the transmission router to be used for the automated elections system during the upcoming May 9 national and local elections have already been deposited in escrow at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in Manila.
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan and BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno led the turn-over of the source codes of the Election Results Transmission Services or transmission router, as mandated under Republic Act No. 9369.
The transmission router is a software that will transmit the results coming from the polling precincts going to the main server, back-up server and transparency server.
Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said this will be the last source codes that will be deposited with the BSP.
He said that the transmission router already underwent testing and it already passed the modifications done for the final trusted build.
It was in February that the Comelec turned over to the BSP the Automated Election System (AES) source codes.
To ensure the security of the source codes, BSP Managing Director Rosabel Guerrero said that it is only the BSP that will open the vault and the Comelec cannot enter the vault without the BSP.
However, once inside the vault, the compartment that contains the source codes cannot be opened without the presence of the Comelec.
Comelec Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan said that the source codes are the heart and soul of the AES, and it is important that these codes remain protected from any threat of manipulation to maintain the credibility of the elections.