Comelec says case vs Bautista justifies Smartmatic disqualification
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) will include the money laundering case filed in the United States against its former chief Andres Bautista, when it files a motion for reconsideration of the Supreme Court ruling that it had committed a grave abuse of discretion when it disqualified Smartmatic from bidding for all automated election systems.
“[We will include these court documents] because this time, it is out in the open. It is now public, officially admitted in court; we will definitely include that if we file the motion for reconsideration,” said Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia in the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel media forum on Wednesday.
Garcia said the case against Bautista, which alleged he had accepted bribes from a voting machine vendor, would prove that their decision to disqualify SmartM matic from participating in poll automation projects was justified.
“That is what we want to prove; when we issued the disqualificaM tion of the company, we did not just guess it. We have a basis, and that is our basis,” Garcia said.
“Now, the case has surfaced. So we will have to watch. So I would like to confirm, that based on our communication with the US auM thorities, it was confirmed that the case is officially filed in a district court in the US,” Garcia said.
The Department of Homeland
Security’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) filed the case against Bautista at the US District Court in the Southern District of Florida on Sep. 19, 2023.
The former Comelec chief allegM edly received bribe money from
top executives of an unnamed poll technology company and its subsidiaries in exchange for assistance in their bid to secure multimillion-dollar election contracts.
The company that allegedly bribed Bautista was not named in US court records, but the description in the affidavit matched that of Smartmatic.
The allegation prompted Comelec to disqualify the company from participating in all election-related procurement projects, including the 2025 polls.
Smartmatic brought the case to the Supreme Court, which ruled that Comelec committed a grave abuse of discretion when it disqualified Smartmatic.
Garcia also disclosed that the special investigating panel is reviewing the procurement proceedings in 2016 on the possible charges against Smartmatic in relation to the awarding of the poll automation contract.
“We want to know who the others involved are if, indeed, the 2016 bidding was rigged. It cannot be just one person. But the US case only has jurisdiction against one person, not the others involved,” he said.
“Who are the conspirators? This is why we created this panel. And the US DoJ (Department of Justice) provided us with some documents that are now being reviewed by our panel,” he said.
Also on Wednesday, the US government dismissed reports that Bautista had been arrested after he was sued for money laundering and conspiracy in the state of Florida.
“Juan Andres Donato Bautista is not in US custody, and we decline to comment further,” Nicole Navas Oxman, senior communications advisor for international law enforcement at the US Department of Justice, said in an email to The Manila Times.
Bautista has denied the allegations and maintained his innocence.
“I did not ask for nor receive any bribe money,” Bautista said in a social media post. “Be that as it may, I am ready to respond to the alleged charges at the proper forum and time.”
However, he has since gone into hiding and his messaging platforms and mobile number are no longer in use.
During Bautista’s incumbency, the sitting commissioners were Luie Tito Guia, Al Parreño, Arthur Lim, Sheriff Abas, Rowena Guanzon and Christian Robert Lim.
The late former president Benigno Aquino III named Bautista as Comelec chairman on May 4, 2015, a year before the 2016 elections.
Bautista was forced to step down on Oct. 24, 2017, following allegations of ill-gotten wealth raised by his estranged wife, Patricia Bautista, who claimed that based on documents in her possession, her husband had amassed at least P1 billion in ill-gotten wealth following his appointment as chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and later as Comelec chief.
An impeachment case was filed against Bautista by former Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto Paras and lawyer Ferdinand Topacio.
It was believed that Bautista resigned to avoid impeachment. But on the day Bautista filed his resignation as Comelec chief, the House impeached him with a vote of 137-75 with two abstentions.
The money laundering case against Bautista was filed by HSI special agent Colberd Almeida. The former Comelec chief was charged with conspiring to launder money, but it is unclear how the case has progressed or if the arrest warrant sought by Almeida was eventually issued.