Section 9January 23, 2007, Sec./Art. 9

New section 8,9, 10 and 11 are hereby provided to read as follows:

"SEC.8. The Advisory Council. - The Commission shall create an advisory Council, hereafter referred to as the Council, which shall be convened not later than eighteen (18) months prior to the next schedule electoral exercise, and deactivated six months after completion of canvassing: Provided, for purposes of the 2007 elections, the Advisory Council shall be immediately convened within ten (10) days after the effectivity of this Act.

"The Council shall be composed of the following members, who must be registered Filipino voters, of known independence, competence and probity;

"(a) The Chairman of the Commission on information and Communications Technology (CICT) who shall act as the chairman of the council;

"(b) One member from the Department of Science and Technology;

"(c) One member from the Department of Education;

"(d) One member representing the academe, to be selected by the chair of the Advisory Council from among the list of nominees submitted by the country's academic institutions;

"(e) Three members representing ICT professional organizations to be selected by the chair of the Advisory Council from among the list of nominees submitted by Philippines-based ICT professional organization. Nominees shall be individuals, at least one of whom shall be experience in managing or implementing large-scale IT projects.

"(f) Two members representing nongovernmental electoral reform organizations, to be selected by the chair of the Advisory Council from among the list of nominees submitted by the country's nongovernmental electoral reform organizations.

"A person who is affiliated with any political party or candidate for any national position, or is related to a candidate for any national position by affinity or consanguinity within the fourth civil degree, shall not be eligible for appointment or designation to the Advisory Council. Should any such situation arise at any time during the incumbency of a member, the designation or appointment of that member, shall ipso facto be terminated.

"Any member of the advisory council is prohibited from engaging, directly or indirectly, with any entity that advocates, markets, imports, produces or in any manner handles software, hardware or any equipment that may be used for election purposes for personal gain".

"Any violation of the two immediate preceding paragraphs shall disqualify said member from the Advisory Council and shall be punishable as provided in this Act and shall be penalized in accordance with the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and other related laws.

"The council may avail itself of the expertise and services of resource person who are known independence, competence and probity, are nonpartisan, and do not posses any of the disqualifications applicable to a member of the Advisory Council as provided herein. The resource persons shall also be subject to the same prohibitions and penalties as the members of the Advisory Council.

"The commission on information and communications technology (CICT) , shall include in its annual appropriation the funds necessary to enable the council to effectively perform its functions".

"SEC. 9. Function of the Advisory Council. - the Council shall have the following functions:

1. Recommend the most appropriate, secure, applicable and cost-effective technology to be applied in the AES, in whole or in part, at that specific form in time.

2. Participate as nonvoting members of the Bids and Awards Committee in the conduct of the bidding process for the AES. Members of the Advisory Council representing the ICT Professionals organizations are hereby excluded from participating in any manner in the Bids and Awards Committee.

3. Participate as nonvoting members of the steering committee tasked with the implementation of the AES, Members of the Advisory Council representing the ICT professional organization are hereby excluded from participating in any manner in the steering committee.

4. Provide advice and assistance in the review of the systems planning, inception, development, testing, operationalization, and evaluation stages.

5. Provided advice and/or assistance in the identification, assessment and resolution of systems problems or inadequacies as may surface or resurface in the course of the bidding, acquisition, testing, operationalization, re-use, storage or disposition of the AES equipment and/or resources as the case may be.

6. Provided advice and/or assistance in the risk management of the AES especially when a contingency or disaster situation arises.

7. Prepare and submit a written report, which shall be submitted within six months from the date of the election to the oversight committee, evaluating the use of the AES.

Nothing in the role of the Council or any outside intervention or influence shall be construed as an abdication or diminution of the Commission's authority and responsibility for the effective development, management and implementation of the AES and this Act."

The Advisory Council shall be entitled to a just and reasonable amount of per diem allowances and/or honoraria to cover the expenses of the services rendered chargeable against the budget of the Commission."

"SEC. 10. The Technical Evaluation Committee. - The Commission, in collaboration with the chairman of the Advisory Council, shall establish an independent technical evaluation committee, herein known as the Committee, composed of a representative each from the Commission, the Commission on Information and Communications Technology and the Department of Science and Technology who shall act as chairman of the Committee.

"The Committee shall be immediately convened within ten (10) days after the effectively of this Act."

"SEC. 11. Functions of the Technical Evaluation Committee. - The Committee shall certify, through an established international certification entity to be chosen by the Commission from the recommendations of the Advisory Council, not later than three months before the date of the electoral exercises, categorically stating that the AES, including its hardware and software components, is operating properly, securely, and accurately, in accordance with the provisions of this Act based, among others, on the following documented results:

1. The successful conduct of a field testing process followed by a mock election event in one or more cities/municipalities;

2. The successful completion of audit on the accuracy, functionally and security controls of the AES software;

3. The successful completion of a source code review;

4. A certification that the source code is kept in escrow with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas;

5. A certification that the source code reviewed is one and the same as that used by the equipment; and

6. The development, provisioning, and operationalization of a continuity plan to cover risks to the AES at all points in the process such that a failure of elections, whether at voting, counting or consolidation, may be avoided.

For purposes of the 2007 elections, the certification shall be done not later than eight weeks prior to the date of the elections.

"If the Commission decides to proceed with the use of the AES without the Committee's certification, it must submit its reason in writing, to the Oversight Committee, no less than thirty (30) days prior to the electoral exercise where the AES will be used.

"The Committee may avail itself of the expertise and service of resource persons who are of known independence, competence and probity, are no partisan, and who do not possess any of the disqualification applicable to a member of the Advisory Council as provided herein. The resource persons shall also be subject to the same prohibitions and penalties as the members of the Advisory Council.

"The Committee shall closely coordinate with the steering committee of the Commission tasked with the implementation of the AES in the identification and agreement of the project deliverables and timelines, and in the formulation of the acceptance criteria for each deliverable."