Comelec ready to face charges over AES deal

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) is ready to defend the P17.9-billion automated election system (AES) contract it awarded to the joint venture of South Korea’s Miru Systems Co. Ltd. for the 2025 national and local polls.

Chairman George Erwin Garcia also hinted over the weekend that some forces were behind the opposition to the contract, but did not elaborate.

“Ako po ay may alam na kadahilanan pero ‘di ko na sasabihin. Parang merong drawing (I know the reason for the resistance, but I will not tell you),” said Garcia, adding that the Comelec will face the petition in court.

He maintained that the AES procurement process was fully transparent and was not marred by bribery or corruption.

“Their accusations against us pertain to technical matters … for which the poll body has easy answers,” Garcia said.

“We are not afraid because everything that the Comelec did were in order and above board and in compliance with the laws, especially Republic Act 9184 [or the Government Procurement Reform Act],” he added.

Grave abuse of discretion

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that the Commission committed grave abuse of discretion when it disqualified election technology provider Smartmatic Philippines (Smartmatic) from participating in all its public bidding and procurement process related to the 2025 elections.

Following the court ruling, former Caloocan representative Edgar Erice filed a petition before the court seeking to enjoin the Commission from implementing the P17.9 billion it awarded to Miru Systems.

In his petition for certiorari with prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) and/or a writ of preliminary injunction, Erice asked the high court to declare null and void the Comelec en banc resolution issued on Feb. 21, 2024, which awarded the Full Automation System with Transparency Audit/Count (FASTrAC) contract to the joint venture of Miru Systems.

In the same petition, Erice asked the Supreme Court to nullify the implementation of any contract that the Comelec may have entered into with Miru Systems in relation to the 20025 midterm polls.

He strongly criticized Miru Systems for presenting a prototype for the Comelec’s evaluation, saying that it violates the law because the prototype machines have never been tested in any elections.

Last month, the Comelec signed the contract with Miru Systems for the lease of 110,000 customized automated counting machines (ACM) that will be used in the 2025 midterm polls.

Garcia has admitted that a restraining order from the high tribunal would affect the Comelec’s preparations, but it would not stop the holding of the 2025 polls.

“We have to automate the national and local elections whatever the disposition of the Supreme Court because we cannot resort to manual election, otherwise the Comelec will be in violation of the law. We can only resort to automated elections in 2025 because that is what the law provides,” he said.