Pacquiao urges presidential, senatorial bets to recuse from Smartmatic probe

Presidential candidate Senator Manny Pacquiao on Tuesday urged presidential and senatorial candidates to recuse themselves from the Senate investigation into the alleged "breach" at Smartmatic, the poll technology provider for Eleksyon 2022.

"Dapat 'yung mga tumatakbo na may mga conflict hindi na dapat mag-attend," Pacquiao said in an ambush interview as he continued his campaign sorties in Barangay Tatalon, Quezon City.

(Candidates with conflict should not attend the investigation.)

Pacquiao said he had no problem with election watchdog Kontra Daya's call for senators like him to recuse themselves from the probe.

"Wala namang problema kung ayaw nila akong mag-participate sa imbestigasyon na 'yan. Walang problema. Gusto rin natin 'yung malinis na halalan, na walang dayaan. At ipagdasal natin sa Panginoon na kung sino man ang gagawa ng kasamaan ay ibubulgar ng Panginoon," he said.

(I have no problem if they do not want me to participate in the investigation. I also favor a clean election with no cheating involved. Let us pray to God that whoever will plan atrocities will be revealed.)

Commission on Elections Commissioner George Garcia has already called on the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to release the results of its probe into the matter as soon as possible.

Earlier, Senator Imee Marcos, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms, claimed that the supposed data breach might have compromised personal information, ledgers, office photos, and contact persons in Comelec, and these data could be in the hands of a syndicate.

Kontra Daya had called on Marcos to remove herself from the committee as a matter of "delicadeza" and to avoid conflict of interest, as her brother Bongbong is a presidential candidate. — BM, GMA News