Data Center 3 not an ‘intermediary’ server – Comelec chief Garcia

Commission on Elections Chair George Garcia explains the transmission of votes as certificates of canvass opened. File photo by Marianne Bermudez | Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia debunked on Thursday a claim that the Data Center 3 (DC3) in Makati City served as an “intermediary server” for the 2025 midterm elections.

Garcia made the clarification after a forum by the Alyansa ng Nagkakaisang Mamamayan and the Church Leaders Council on Wednesday claimed that all election returns were not directly sent to the accredited citizens’ arms — the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) — and the media, but were sent first to the DC3 instead.

READ: Comelec inspects data server facility

“The DC3 is not a server. It’s a facility that houses servers of PPCRV, Namfrel, minority and majority parties, and the media,” Garcia told reporters in Filipino in an interview.

The Comelec said that the DC3, which is on the 26th floor of the Circuit Corporate Center Tower 2 of Ayala Circuit, houses the independent transparency servers of the PPCRV, Namfrel, the dominant majority party, the dominant minority party, and the media.

Garcia said that the DC3 was not a secret to the public, as it had already been inspected and visited by several media entities and IT experts.

READ: Comelec discusses 2025 poll protocols with IT experts

In a separate statement, the Comelec said that the observers could attest that the five transparency servers worked properly and directly received election returns (ERs) from every machine of every clustered precinct and certificates of canvass (COCs) from every consolidation and canvassing system of the board of canvassers.

“The transmission log, audit logs, and server logs of all servers serve as additional proof that the five servers directly, automatically, and in real time received without delay all the ERs and COCs without using an intermediary,” the Comelec said.

The Comelec also emphasized that, since it did not have its own server at the DC3, it could not do consolidation in the facility.

It added that the five servers were not designed to consolidate the results, as they were made to directly receive transmitted ERs and COCs without an intermediary.

“There is no law providing for the COMELEC to consolidate results of the election outside the official canvassing proceedings, that’s why even the COMELEC election results website does not have count and consolidation, but only shows the ERs and COCs received,” the Comelec statement said. /atm