Comelec disqualification most unfair – Smartmatic

Commission on Election (COMELEC) Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia and COMELEC spokesperson Atty. John Rex C. Laudiangco, answer media questions during a COMELEC’s press briefing on the postponement of 2022 Barangay and SK elections, held inside the Palacio del Gobernador building in Intramuros, Manila, on 13 October 2022. (PHOTO: MIKE ALQUINTO)

CONTROVERSIAL technology provider Smartmatic Philippines Inc. (Smartmatic) on Thursday questioned its disqualification from all procurements of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), saying that the decision was most unfair because it was based on non-existing grounds.

Smartmatic also questioned the timing of its disqualification, even as it stressed that “we do not ascribe bad faith or malice to Comelec.”

It pointed out that the decision came at a time when the Comelec is in the middle of a bidding for the procurement of new automatic counting machines that will be used in the 2025 midterm elections.

The bids will be opened on Dec. 12, 2023.

“The net effect of the surprise disqualification is to exclude Smartmatic from the bid process, eliminating the biggest competition for the remaining bidders,” it said.

The firm said that had the Comelec given them the opportunity to explain and present their evidence, “the unfair disqualification could not have been meted out.”

On Wednesday, the Comelec en banc came out with a 17-page resolution disqualifying Smartmatic from participating in all election procurement processes.

The Comelec en banc anchored its disqualification ruling against Smartmatic on the investigation by the US government against former Comelec chairman Juan Andres Bautista, who was charged in connection with allegations of receiving bribes in exchange for awarding a contract to Smartmatic.

“Bautista and others are alleged to have laundered the bribe money through multiple entities. It was revealed that Bautista established a foreign shell company, which was used to receive bribe payments from Smartmatic. The charges against Smartmatic and former Chairman Bautista are of public knowledge and tend to cause speculation and distrust of the electoral process,” the poll body said.

It stressed that “the allegations not only undermine and cast a shadow over the procurement protocols but also threaten to erode the public’s confidence in the electoral system.”

Smartmatic clarified that it is not facing any formal charge in the US; thus, the basis of disqualification is not only false but nonexistent.

“A false accusation and, more so, a disqualification on the basis of non-existent grounds is not only legally and morally wrong, but plain unfair,” the technology provider said.

“Disqualifying Smartmatic in the ongoing bidding for the 2025 voting machines and future procurements on the basis of mere news reports and unofficial, leaked documents from abroad (which have yet to be verified by the United States Department of Justice) are utterly unacceptable in any jurisdiction, including the Philippines,” it added.

If there was indeed a pending investigation and indictment, it said, the Comelec is expected to abide by the constitutional tenet of “presumption of innocence.”

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said that the commission will stand by its decision.

“It was a very difficult decision, but nonetheless, it was the right decision. And we will stand firm on what the Comelec En Banc has decided,” said Garcia.