ELECTIONS chairman George Garcia yesterday linked Smartmatic International to what he described is a “black propaganda” against him and other officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in relation to the poll automation contract with South Korean firm Miru Systems.
Garcia, in a press conference, asked, “Is Smartmatic International the one behind the demolition job against (me)?” as he presented its supposed connection to the allegations of Sagip party-list Rep. Dante Marcoleta that he owns offshore accounts that purportedly received deposits from South Korean banks.
In a statement, Smartmatic International vehemently denied the allegations of Garcia linking them to the black propaganda.
“Our company is not involved nor is behind any of the claims made by chairman Garcia against us. Such accusations are both unfair and unjust,” said Smartmatic.
It said it is focused “solely” on the case it filed before the Supreme Court questioning its disqualification from all election-related procurements.
“Any suggestion to the contrary is baseless and mere speculation,” it stressed.
In the press conference, Garcia said: “Sana po masagot ang katanungan ongi to. Wala po akong ibinibintang (I hope I can get an answer to my question. I am not making any accusations here).”
COINCIDENCE?
According to Garcia, the identity of Marcoleta’s supposed “volunteer” who transferred funds to his alleged offshore accounts in Cayman Islands was identified to be Jaleo Consulting LLC, which is a company registered in Florida, USA.
He said one of the top officials of Jaleo Consulting was identified as one Jose Herrera, who is supposedly the same person serving as a director of Albatross Technologies Corporation, which is based in Barbados.
Garcia said Albatross is a subsidiary of Smartmatic and that they share the business address of “26 Pine Road Pine Lodge Belle Ville. St. Michael, Barbados”.
He noted that the vice president of Smartmatic, Alfredo Anzola, is married to the daughter of Herrera.
“Bakit po ba naman ang address sa Barbados, ang address ng company na sinasabi ko (Albatross Technologies Corporation) ay parehas sa address ng company ng dati nating provider? Parehas na parehas po (Why is the address in Barbados, the address of the company that I mentioned, the same with the address of our former provider)?” Garcia asked.
“Coincidence lang ba ‘yan? Sana maipaliwanag sa atin. Isa lang konklusyon natin kapag ganyan, pero ayaw kong ako ang gumawa ng konklusyon (Is it just coincidence? I hope someone can explain this. There is only one conclusion here, but I don’t want to make that conclusion),” he added.
Garcia said that if the information that he has is true, “this is a direct intervention of a foreign entity to our election system. Even if it is not yet the elections, the Commission on Elections and its leader is the one being accused.”
In the same media conference, Garcia also reiterated that he does not own the two alleged offshore accounts in Cayman Islands where Jaleo supposedly transferred funds.
To prove his claims, the poll chief presented his electronic communications with Cayman Island National Bank and Scotiabank Cayman.
“Please note there is no existing account in your name,” said Cayman Island National Bank.
Scotiabank also said: “Kindly note that there is no account in our system under the name of George Erwin Mojica Garcia.”
Marcoleta has claimed that Garcia owns two offshore bank accounts in the Cayman Islands that allegedly received deposits from South Korean banks.
According to Garcia, even Miru Systems, its service provider for the 2025 automated polls, has sought confirmation from banks on the alleged money transfers that it made.
In a letter shared by Miru to Garcia, it showed proof of the absence of fund remittances to local and foreign bank accounts.
“There is no record of remittances made during the specified period by the account opened at SCB Korea to the accounts listed,” said the letter from Miru as quoted by Garcia.
