Comelec appeals SC ruling on Smartmatic

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said it would ask the Supreme Court (SC) to reconsider its ruling that overturned the ban on automated election system provider Smartmatic from bidding on poll contracts.

The SC had ruled that Comelec had committed a grave abuse of discretion in disqualifying Smartmatic, which had provided the technology backbone for past elections.

“We will file a motion for reconsideration, but I want to say that we also accept the decision no matter what,” said Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia in a radio interview.

Garcia maintained the ruling does not affect the integrity of the Comelec.

“We don’t have an issue of integrity, especially on the issue of the 2016 election,” Garcia said. “At the time when we disqualified them, we didn’t know the extent of our power.”

“Now that the Supreme Court has decided, it will be the final decision, and at least the commission has been guided... to the extent of our power. That’s very welcome,” he said.

Garcia said the ruling will not affect the contract to supply vote-counting machines for the 2025 midterm elections that was awarded to Miru Systems, a South Korean firm.

Garcia said the Comelec will continue with its scheduled preparations for the 2025 elections, which cannot be compromised unless the SC tells the Comelec to stop.

In a separate statement, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said the Comelec’s disqualification of Smartmatic “was a significant step taken with the view of safeguarding the integrity of the country’s elections.”

“The commission en banc’s decision was indeed groundbreaking, hard and difficult but necessary to address the issues brought up by numerous stakeholders regarding the transparency, reliability, and integrity of the election procurement process involving the subject party in an earlier action,” Laudiangco said.

He defended the Comelec’s decision as one that championed democracy.

The Comelec barred Smartmatic Philippines Inc. in November 2023 after the United States government investigated the company for alleged anomalies in the US elections, which were later debunked.

The US Justice Department investigated Smartmatic in connection with alleged bribes in exchange for contracts for election machines, according to Comelec.

The Comelec ban meant the local unit of the London-headquartered firm was not allowed to take part in the tender for the 2025 midterm elections, which was awarded to Miru.