NEWS: GSIS sues computer firm; IBM threatens to file libel

**ghosthunter** · June 4th, 2009 05:10 PM

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?...ss5_june4_2009

[SIZE="4"]GSIS sues computer firm; IBM threatens to file libel[/SIZE]

THE Government Service Insurance System filed a P100-million lawsuit against IBM Philippines and its local partner for allegedly providing defective software that paralyzed the operations of the pension fund.

But IBM Philippines said it would file a P200-million libel suit against the pension fund for engaging in a series of “unwarranted public attacks” that tarnished the company’s reputation.

“We cannot stand by and allow our company’s reputation to be tarnished by blatantly inaccurate and misleading accusations,” IBM Philippines said in a statement. “The deliberately libelous actions by the GSIS leave IBM with no other course of action.”

GSIS lawyer Estrella Elamparo filed the complaint at the Pasay City Regional Trial Court, claiming IBM Philippines and Questronix Corp. provided a database management software, called the IBM DB2, that intermittently crashed and paralyzed operations.

It said the defective software resulted in actual damages of at least P5 billion

She claimed that actual damages suffered by the GSIS included the amount of resources spent for data recovery activities and unrealized income from investments.

GSIS is claiming actual and compensatory damages of at least P80 million, P10 million for moral damages, P8 million for exemplary damages and P2 million for litigation expenses and lawyers’ fees. Lawrence Agcaoili

If your grandparents suddenly aren't receiving their GSIS benefits, you know who are to blame.

**chua_riwap** · June 4th, 2009 06:33 PM

My father is one of them..........

**roninblade** · June 5th, 2009 01:43 AM

baka naman di lang maayos ang setup nung system kaya crash ng crash.

GSIS is claiming actual and compensatory damages of at least P80 million, P10 million for moral damages, P8 million for exemplary damages and P2 million for litigation expenses and lawyers’ fees.

so ano reason nung other P60 million. P20 million lang yung naka-list eh.... P60 million for kickbacks? heh

**ghosthunter** · June 5th, 2009 09:17 AM

Originally Posted by roninblade

so ano reason nung other P60 million. P20 million lang yung naka-list eh.... P60 million for kickbacks? heh

I think it's 60M for the actual project and 20M for "extras" as listed like moral damages, legal & lawyer's fees.

**woohoo** · June 5th, 2009 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by roninblade

baka naman di lang maayos ang setup nung system kaya crash ng crash.

Malamang Filesystem or Hardware fault lang yun. :hammer:

so ano reason nung other P60 million. P20 million lang yung naka-list eh.... P60 million for kickbacks? heh

Um, it's a P 100M lawsuit:

THE Government Service Insurance System filed a P100-million lawsuit ...

Actual and Compensatory Damages : at least 80 M
Moral Damages : 10M
Exemplary Damages : 8M
Litigation Expenses and Lawyers' fees : 2M

80 + 10 + 8 + 2 = 100.

GSIS is claiming actual and compensatory damages of at least P80 million, P10 million for moral damages, P8 million for exemplary damages and P2 million for litigation expenses and lawyers’ fees.

**roninblade** · June 5th, 2009 10:51 AM

Originally Posted by woohoo

Um, it's a P 100M lawsuit:

Actual and Compensatory Damages : at least 80 M
Moral Damages : 10M
Exemplary Damages : 8M
Litigation Expenses and Lawyers' fees : 2M

80 + 10 + 8 + 2 = 100.

should teach me not to post something after midnight after having a few bottles of beer

**valvura** · June 5th, 2009 11:59 AM

Could it be the cause of moving monthly pension remittance from the 1st of to the 8th of the month? My mom's a GSIS pensioner fyi. Whose pocket/s where the interests for one week went?

**Horsepower** · June 5th, 2009 02:14 PM

I wonder who pushed this project through (and how much kickbacks everyone got).

It's just a database system. They could've easily implemented an opensource database system designed and built by students and/or faculty from state universities since the Govt finances part of their expenses anyway (the cream of the crop goes there so top quality is assured). It's a Govt information system so it should've been bespoke in the first place. Who knows if that IBM DB2 has a backdoor (which is highly likely).

**OldSchoolHack** · June 5th, 2009 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by Horsepower

I wonder who pushed this project through (and how much kickbacks everyone got).

It's just a database system. They could've easily implemented an opensource database system designed and built by students and/or faculty from state universities since the Govt finances part of their expenses anyway (the cream of the crop goes there so top quality is assured). It's a Govt information system so it should've been bespoke in the first place. Who knows if that IBM DB2 has a backdoor (which is highly likely).

The IBM platform (I am refering to the big systems not the Z-boxes for Unix or the Windows/Linux boxes like the Bladeservers) is the most stable and secure as far as systems are concerned. Unlike open source (kaya nga OPEN SOURCE. Everyone has free access and can easily read the source code hence find vulnerabilities and security holes) the IBM platform is so proprietary it is not easily available to many people. It is their strength and their weakness. So a DB2 backdoor is most probably an OS backdoor which is highly unlikely.

(The DATABASE and the FILESYSTEM and the OPERATING SYSTEM as well as the NOS and SECURITY/AUDIT are all so intermeshed that silly crashes like interoperability problems, compatibility problems on software and hardware are close to nil. Compare that to Windows, Linux and its parent Unix, etc.)

As for GSIS and IBM, their drama goes on....

BTW I am not in anyway connected with both.