The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has excluded the service provider Smartmatic from all procurements, as stated by COMELEC Chairman George Garcia on Wednesday.

“We disqualified Smartmatic from participating in all Comelec procurements,” Garcia informed reporters in a Viber message.

Additionally, the COMELEC chair announced the poll body’s decision regarding a petition filed in June to disqualify Smartmatic — the sole technology company exclusively offering machines for the country’s electoral procedures since the adoption of automated elections in 2010.

“We need to maintain the integrity of our electoral process,” said Garcia, who has yet to provide more details about the decision.

The Venezuela-based firm was awarded contracts to supply election-related hardware and software for the country’s elections in 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2022.

Allegations of bribery are outlined in the resolution

The poll body stated in a resolution that the US government’s allegations of bribery and corrupted procurement processes against former Comelec Chairman Juan Andres Bautista and Smartmatic posed an “imminent threat to the strength and integrity” of the Philippines’ democratic processes.

The United States government, through the Philippine Department of Justice, requested official documents from the Comelec en banc in connection with its investigation into Bautista and others in October 2022.

Bautista was formally indicted in September 2023 on suspicions of accepting bribes in exchange for awarding Smartmatic the contract to deliver electoral devices for the 2016 elections.

The former COMELEC chairman has denied the bribery allegations.

According to the resolution, “Bautista and others are alleged to have laundered the bribe money through multiple entities,” as well as violated US laws, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, conspiracy, and wire fraud.

Certain reports suggest that Bautista “established a foreign shell company, which was used to receive bribe payments from Smartmatic.”

According to the COMELEC, “these allegations not only undermine and cast a shadow over the procurement protocols but also threaten to erode the public’s confidence in the electoral system.”

Consequently, the COMELEC declared that Smartmatic is not permitted to participate in any procurement procedure.

No anomalies were found in last year’s elections

Garcia stated that the disqualification finding is not based on the charges of Rio’s group while the Comelec en banc was deliberating on a petition brought by the group of former Information and Communications Technology Secretary Eliseo Rio and ex-Comelec Commissioner Augusto Lagman.

Due to suspected anomalies in the 2022 national elections, the petitioners asked the Comelec in June to assess Smartmatic’s qualifications and potentially disqualify the company from participating in the procurement for the 2025 automated voting system.

However, citing procedural restrictions, the commission stated that it cannot yet examine Smartmatic’s qualifications at this point in the procurement process. It also highlighted the “procedural infirmity” of Rio’s group’s appeal.

It stated that the petitioners could not insist on Smartmatic’s exclusion due to their “non-compliance with the procedural rules for blacklisting.”

The COMELEC also reiterated its position that there were no anomalies in the election last year.

“The allegations of petitioners pertaining to the alleged consistency in the ratio of transmitted results, the use of a single IP address, and alleged discrepancies in the transmission and election returns have been sufficiently addressed by the Commission at length,” according to the ruling.

Nonetheless, the en banc observed that during its October hearings, it stated that it may approve a recount on motion by opening the ballot boxes in particular locations as requested by the petitioners.

“This is consistent with the Commission’s commitment to uphold fair, orderly, and honest elections and to pursue all avenues to strengthen transparency in the conduct of elections,” the Commission said in a statement.

Commissioner Ferolino dissents over the disqualification

Only Commissioner Aimee Ferolino, one of the six COMELEC commissioners, dissents against Smartmatic’s exclusion.

Ferolino stated that while the criminal prosecution brought against Bautista in the United States is appropriate, it “does not warrant an outright condemnation of persons or entities involved,” because the matter is still under investigation and there is no supporting evidence on record.

“It strikes me that a distant matter has been interjected into this case,” according to the commissioner’s separate opinion.

The commissioner further stated that the bribery allegations were only brought in the petitioners’ October demand for early resolution. She claimed that Smartmatic was denied the right to be adequately advised of the charges and was denied the ability to defend itself.

“We greatly value the faith and confidence of the people in the integrity of the electoral process; thus, we must afford them the utmost degree of prudence in all our actions,” Ferolino said.

Photo: COMELEC