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Smartmatic asking Comelec to pay P2B for unreturned voting machines


Election technology provider Smartmatic is charging the Commission on Elections (Comelec) P2 billion for the delayed return of vote counting machines (VCM) used in the May elections.

Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon told dzBB that because of the delayed return of the VCMs, Smartmatic is already considering the machines as "good as sold" to the Comelec.

Guanzon said that the Comelec failed to return the VCMs on time due to the protest filed by losing vice presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

“May sinisingil yung Smartmatic na P2 billion dahil daw sa late na pagbalik namin ng ilang mga VCM na na-delay nung protesta ni Bongbong Marcos. Good as sold na daw yun,” Guanzon said. 

“Sabi ko nag-lease lang kami sa inyo, renta lang, wala namang bidding tapos sasabihin n'yo good as sold? Ano ‘to palakasan na lang ng dibdib to, P2 billion?” she added.

Guanzon said that Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista has approved the request of Smartmatic for a closed-door meeting with all the commissioners to iron out the agreement.

Guanzon said she refused to attend the meeting since it might send a wrong signal to the public, prompting her to propose an en banc meeting without Smartmatic instead.

"Gusto nga nila mag-meeting. Itong si Chairman Bautista tinatawag kaming mag-meeting. Bakit ako a-attend ng meeting diyan? Ano, aayusin natin yan closed-door? Hindi puwede yan sa'kin, en banc meeting niyo 'yan ng wala sila. Baka isipin ng tao nag-connive tayo sa P2 billion na 'yan," she said.

In a separate dzBB interview, Bautista explained that the Comelec requested to defer the delivery of some VCMs to Smartmatic before the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) in Marcos' electoral protest.

"Ang nangyari yung pag-turnover ng mga makina dapat nangyari nung December 1, but nagkaroon ng delay dahil sa protest na nakahain ngayon at humingi kami ng pahintulot sa PET. Binigyan kami ng pahintulot na maibagay na yung mga makina sa December at sumulat yung mga abodago ng Smartmatic at sabi nila parang hindi pa raw na-turnover ang ilang makina," Bautista said.

Marcos is contesting the results of the May 9 elections before the PET after losing to Vice President Leni Robredo by a slim margin of 260,000 votes.

Bautista said that the Smartmatic's move to charge the Comelec P2 billion for the unreturned VCMs is based on the "options to purchase" provision in the contract that the poll body signed with the poll technology provider.

"May provision sa kontrata na nagsasabi na pag hindi maibalik yung mga makina by Dec. 1, yung options to purchase na ibinigay sa Comelec ay mati-trigger," Bautista said.

'Constructive delivery'

However, Bautista said that the Comelec had already made a "constructive delivery."

"Ang sinasabi naman namin, nagkaroon na ng constructive delivery, I think it was November 29 nung sumulat si Commissioner Arthur Lim na sinasabing handa na ibalik ang mga makina na ginamit nung halalan nung Mayo," he said.

In a press release on December 1, the Comelec announced that it "turned over"  last 97,366 units of Optical Mark Reader (OMR) Machines and Election Management Systems (EMS), including accessories, to Smartmatic last November 29.

The poll body added that it had retained 151 units of OMR machines.

It said that under two Contracts of Lease with Option to Purchase that it signed with Smartmatic, all goods still in its possession will be "considered sold."

Meanwhile, Bautista also clarified that the meeting between Smartmatic and Comelec was approved by the commissioners and it was not just his sole approval.

"Sumulat ang Comelec, ang en banc na maimbita ang Smartmatic para magpaliwanag sa amin at titingnan ng Comelec en banc kung ano ang nararapat gawin para dito... Ito ang napagpasyahan ng en banc na imbitahin ang Smartmatic," Bautista said.

The date for the meeting has not been scheduled. —Joseph Tristan Roxas/ALG, GMA News

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