A FORMER lawmaker yesterday filed a criminal complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman against top officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) alleging irregularities in the award of the P17.99 billion poll automation project to a joint venture led by South Korean proponent Miru Systems Co. Ltd.
Complainant former Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice named Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia as respondent, together with members of the Commission’s Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC).
The SBAC-Automated Election Systems officers are Allen Francis Abaya, chairperson; John Rex Laudiangco, vice chairperson; and members Divina Blas-Perez, Jovencio Balanquit, and Abigail Claire Llacuna. Also named co-respondents were alternate SBAC-AEC members Celia Romero and Efraim Bag-id.
Specifically, they were accused of violating Section 3 (e) and (g) of RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The first concerns undue injury caused against any party including the government or giving any private party unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference.
On the other hand, the second allegation involved entering, on behalf of the government, into any contract or transaction that is deemed manifestly or grossly disadvantageous.
Garcia welcomed the filing of criminal charges against him and other officials of the poll body and guaranteed his readiness to respond to the allegations of Erice.
In an online interview with media men, Garcia said the filing of charges by Erice is actually a welcome relief as it is different from the previous instances, when the former lawmaker engaged in mere public statements.
“We have been expecting this since he has long declared such plans to file a case before the Office of the Ombudsman. And we are now prepared to answer all his allegations,” said Garcia.
“At least we have this case now with the Ombudsman instead of us subjected to ‘marites’ (rumors) and having to deal with misinformation and disinformation,” he added.
Erice’s complaint was anchored on the argument that the Comelec’s contract with SMMT-TIM 2016, Inc. (Smartmatic) was still in effect when the Comelec approved the March 27, 2023 proposal from Commissioner Rey Bulay to declare the Smartmatic vote counting machines (VCMs) “unserviceable.”
After a second bidding, the Comelec on January 10, 2024 issued a Notice of Single Calculated Bid that declared the joint venture of Miru Systems Co. Ltd, Integrated Computer Systems, St. Timothy Construction Corp., and Centerpoint Solutions Technologies, Inc as the sole eligible bidder for the FASTrAC project.
On February 21, 2024, the Comelec ordered the issuance of a Notice of Award to the joint venture and that Miru be subjected to a post-qualification procedure.
The contract agreement was executed between Comelec and Miru on March 11, 2024 for the lease of VCMs and other election paraphernalia as needed in the FASTrAC project.
“The objective of the FASTrAC Project is to lease machines, software, and other election-related paraphernalia in relation to the 2025 elections. Comelec has an existing contract with Smartmatic for the refurbishment of earlier purchased VCMs,” Erice pointed out.
He said that Smartmatic’s warranty period for the refurbishment of the VCMs was in effect up to May 10, 2023.
“Comelec declared the VCMs as unserviceable on 27 March 2024. Assuming that the VCMs are actually unserviceable, the same is still covered by the warranty provided in the contract between Comelec and Smartmatic,” he said.
Instead of signing a different contract with a new supplier, Erice said the proper recourse for the Comelec should have been to enforce the warranty rather than entering into another equipment lease contract.
Erice said Smartmatic was still under obligation to replace the defective VCMs free-of-charge, hence the award of the contract to Miru gave preference to the latter.
“Assuming for the sake of argument that chairman Garcia was not aware of its contract with Smartmatic, he acted with gross inexcusable negligence when he entered into another contract with Miru,” he added.
The former congressman said had the Comelec simply exercised its option to have Smartmatic replace the unserviceable VCMs, the government would have saved billion of pesos.
Since the government had already paid Smartmatic for the lease of the VCMs used in previous elections as well as the warranty, he said signing a new lease contract with Miru is already “grossly disadvantageous” to the government.
Garcia said that while he welcomes the filing of charges, he cannot help but think that it could be an attempt to divert the public attention away from the controversy involving the Comelec’s previous service provider.
Garcia is referring to the indictment of former poll chief Andres Bautista and three employees of Smartmatic International by a US court for alleged acts of bribery and money laundering related to the 2016 polls.
“It seems like this is an attempt to divert the attention of the public away from the case filed in America regarding the 2016 elections,” he said.
“Once a controversy comes out regarding this company, all of a sudden a new issue emerges that will divert the public’s attention,” he added.
Earlier this month, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) reported that three Smartmatic employees and Bautista have been indicted for their roles in an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme to retain and obtain business related to the 2016 polls. — With Gerard Naval
