Data center security measures in place for 2025 polls – Comelec

The data center in Makati City houses the transparency servers of the dominant majority and minority parties, two accredited election watchdogs, and the media for the 2025 elections. —Photo by Keith Clores | INQUIRER.net trainee

MANILA, Philippines — Security measures will be enforced within the premises of the data center where transparency servers are found for the 2025 elections, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Friday.

The data center that houses the transparency servers of the dominant majority and minority parties, two accredited election watchdogs, and the media is located in Makati City.

“Members of the Armed Forces [of the Philippines] and Philippine National Police will be deployed here. No one can easily enter this building without a record from Comelec, especially the floors where the servers are stored,” Garcia said in Filipino when asked about security measures on election day.

He also said that only Comelec-accredited IT teams of every entity would be allowed entry into the data center by presenting their end-user pass.

“Members of the media and other entities will be given corresponding identification, security codes, and pass so that they could enter,” Garcia added.

He noted that the data center would receive “protected and highly secure” data from the polling precincts, and the servers would receive the electronically transmitted precinct results from the automated counting machines (ACMs).

He added that the servers would be protected with different layers of security.

“That’s why it’s called a data center — it has a different kind of security measure that no one can easily access,” he said.

On Friday, the Comelec met with IT experts and representatives from dominant majority and minority parties, two accredited citizens’ arms, and the media to discuss the protocols and other features of the May elections.