Comelec eyes appeal of SC’S ruling on Smartmatic DQ case
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia said yesterday that they are planning to file a motion for reconsideration (MR) on the Supreme Court’s (SC) ruling on the poll body’s decision to disqualify Smartmatic-tim Corporation in the election-related public bidding.
“Tayo ay nagpaplano na magfile ng motion for reconsideration upang mas maliwanag ang mga bagay. At this point, hindi pa nailalabas ang pinaka-decision ng SC. Therefore, hindi pa tayo makapagsabi ano ba yung nakalagay sa decision (We are planning to file a motion for reconsideration to further shed light on this. At this point, the main decision by SC has not yet been released. Therefore, we cannot really say what’s in the decision),” Garcia said in a radio interview on Radyo 5.
Garcia added that if a petition filed to nullify the contract awarded to South Korea’s Miru System Co. Ltd. prospers and a new round of bidding is required, Smartmatic would be allowed to participate.
“The Comelec has also been made aware of an impending petition to be filed before the Supreme Court questioning the contract awarded to Miru Joint Venture, which the Comelec will face and answer in the proper forum as the necessity arises,” the poll body said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Comelec said that it is “extremely grateful” to the Supreme Court (SC) which did not nullify the contract that the poll body executed last March with the joint venture led by South Korea’s Miru System Co. Ltd. for the Automated Election System (AES).
This, after the SC ruled that the Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion” when the poll body disqualified Smartmatic-tim Corporation in the bidding for the P17.9 billion AES contract for the 2025 national and local elections.
“In all these, the Comelec is extremely grateful to the Highest Court of the Land for having recognized our efforts to pursue election preparations true to the letter and spirit of governing procurement laws, and on considerations of equity, justice, and practicality as well as the doctrine of operative fact,” the Comelec said in a statement.
“The public bidding process carried out by the SBAC or the Comelec’s awarding of the contract for the 2025 AES to Miru Systems is not nullified, and our ongoing preparations for the 2025 NLE in accordance with our timelines will not be adversely affected by the decision,” it added.
Comelec remained firm that the disqualification of Smartmatic was a “significant step” taken with a view of safeguarding the integrity and credibility of the country’s elections, shielding and isolating all phases of the electoral processes - from the starting point of planning and procurement to the endpoint of random manual audit - “from any and all issues which might tarnish the bedrock of democracy in our country.” “The Commission’s en banc decision was indeed groundbreaking, hard, and difficult but necessary to address the issues brought up by numerous stakeholders regarding transparency, reliability, and integrity of the election procurement involving the subject party in an earlier election,” the poll body said.
“As an institution that champions democracy, Comelec listened to the voice of the people above all else and took what it believed to be rightful steps to protect the honor of the electoral process,” it added. Comelec said that the SC ruling recognizes that all actions undertaken by it concerning the bidding and awarding of the contract to Miru are valid, and Miru will continue to be the AES provider for the 2025 NLE. Comelec has yet to receive the official notice and copy of the said decision.
Comelec granted last November the petition to disqualify and disallow Smartmatic to participate in any public bidding process for elections.
Comelec said it recognized the imminent threat to the strength and integrity of the country’s democratic process in the charges filed against former Comelec chairman Andy Bautista by the United States Government for allegedly receiving bribes in exchange for awarding a contract for election machines to Smartmatic