Comelec chief confirms Smartmatic personnel staying at Cubao hotel, checking rooms for VCMs

UPDATE: No VCMs found in Smartmatic's hotel rooms in Cubao —Comelec chief

Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista on Monday confirmed that personnel of Smartmatic, the automation provider for the 2016 polls, are currently billeted at Novotel in Cubao, Quezon City.

Bautista made the pronouncement following reports by watchdog organizations that vote counting machines (VCMs) were found at the hotel, which is located at the Araneta Center owned by the family of Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.

"Apparently, they have been staying here for the past two days dahil ang trabaho nila ay nandito sa Araneta Ave., as distinguished from Araneta Center," said Bautista.

"Kinausap ko na ang Smartmatic na merong alegasyon na nagtatago raw ng VCM at sabi nila hindi raw 'yan totoo at isang kasinungalingan," he added.

Bautista is at the hotel to check the rooms of the Smartmatic personnel. He will be accompanied by Smartmatic official Elly Moreno, and representatives from the PPCRV, Kontra Daya, LP, and PDP-Laban inspected the rooms.

The PPCRV said that according to its volunteers' reports, VCMs were spotted in at least seven rooms on the seventh floor of the Novotel Hotel at the Araneta Center in Cubao.

In a statement, Akbayan Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez, spokesperson for the LP-led coalition, said “there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that there are VCMs in Novotel.”

“First of all, the COMELEC has fully accounted for all VCMs, each of which has a unique ID that allows the COMELEC to know where it is. This means it is impossible for anyone to misplace these machines,” Gutierrez said.

“Secondly, the basis of the statement of Henrietta de Villa of the PPCRV is mere rumor, completely bereft of basis and substance. We also question the timing of this statement, releasing it exactly on Election Day and not earlier,” he added. —JST, GMA News