Botong Pinoy

General FAQ's

What is Botong Pinoy?: Botong Pinoy is a Filipino-made computerized voting system utilizing the latest technology in order to combat fraud in the Philippine electoral system.

Who designed Botong Pinoy?: Botong Pinoy was designed and developed by Mega Data Corporation. Being the facilities manager for the National Bureau of Investigation, and the MIS Consultant of such government organizations such as the Ministry of Health, the National Nutrition Council, the Population Commission and the First Philippine Nuclear Plant project, Mega Data Corporation has a solid track record in improving government service for more than 25 years.

How did Botong Pinoy come to be?: Botong Pinoy is a brainchild of our chairman, Raffy Garcia. With the 2001 Congressional Election, Mega Data Corporation teamed up with Polistrat International and National Press Club (NPC) to computerize the election returns. Due to lack of manpower, the computerization was implemented only in the 1st district of Makati. With that experience, Mr. Garcia decided Mega Data could expand computerization not only in the tabulation level but also electoral system as a whole.

How can Botong Pinoy clean up the electoral process in the Philippines?: Botong Pinoy has identified three major points in the election system where fraud occurs--Registration, Voting and Tabulation. Botong Pinoy is comprised with three independent yet integratable modules, each designed to prevent fraud from occurring in those three points.

How confident is Mega Data in Botong Pinoy’s capability to eliminate fraud such as multiple voting?: Botong Pinoy is a customized election system which uses Facial and Fingerprint Biometric Technology. A person has only one face and ten fingers, none of which can be changed. A person can attempt to register or vote under hundreds of different names but the system will not accept the registration or the vote, as the only identification it will accept are the face and fingerprint.

How is Botong Pinoy different from other voting systems such as VTI, Sequoia, etc.?: Aside from being specifically designed for the Philippines, Botong Pinoy is a combination of mature existing technologies that have been implemented in a unique manner. Facial and fingerprint recognition systems have been around since the early 70’s. Our touch screen technology is based on the widely used Point-Of-Sales systems (POS) worldwide. Barcode technology is being used in supermarkets and computerized inventory systems. What really sets aside our system from the rest is that it is fully auditable.

Since Botong Pinoy is modular, what will happen if only one of the three modules is implemented?: Botong Pinoy was designed to eliminate fraud in each stage of the election process. If only one of the modules is used, fraud in the stage where that module is implemented would be eliminated.

Does Botong Pinoy require specific hardware in order to operate?: The Botong Pinoy system does not have any specific hardware requirements. It will work with any personal computer available in the market today. However Botong Pinoy requires certain hardware like web cam, fingerprint scanner and a touch pad.

Since computers rely on electricity what happens if there is a power shortage?: The computers will run on batteries and inverters.

How do you insure the integrity of the program?: Before Botong Pinoy is deployed, the law requires that it be subject to test and approval from all of the political parties. Transparency will insure the integrity of the program.

Would Botong Pinoy require ID’s?: No, ID’s are not required since biometrics are used to identify voters. One of the advantages of biometrics as opposed to card ID is it will never be forgotten, misplaced, or forged.

How can Botong Pinoy be used for absentee voting?: Botong Pinoy fits into the face-to-face version of the bicameral recommendation on the absentee voting law.