Abalos said the 1,991 ACMs, which he noted were certified as 100 percent accurate by experts from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), can be used to automate the counting and canvassing of the 2007 elections "provided that the legal environment allows it."
"We are safekeeping and maintaining these machines," he told reporters at the Kapihan sa Sulo Hotel forum in Quezon City. "We don’t need additional new appropriations to use these ACMs, but we cannot use them though because of the Supreme Court (SC) ruling nullifying the contract with Mega Pacific."
In 2003, the Comelec purchased the ACMs from MegaPacific at the cost of P1.3 billion.
But the SC in January 2004 nullified the Comelec’s purchase contract with Mega Pacific, citing irregularities in the contract awarding. The court ordered the Ombudsman to investigate those involved for possible criminal liability.
The High Tribunal also ruled earlier that the Comelec should "refrain from implementing any other contract or agreement entered into with regard to the (automated election) project."
The SC demanded that the "public funds expended pursuant to the void resolution and contract must therefore be recovered from the payees... or from the persons who made possible the illegal disbursements (or both), without prejudice to possible criminal prosecution against them."
By the time the SC had declared as void the P1.3-poll automation contract in January 2004, a few months before the synchronized national and local elections, the Comelec had already shelled out money for the ACMs that were never used in the 2004 polls.
Abalos, however, said the SC issued the ruling despite official documents showing that the government saved P2.28 billion from the deal and a DOST assessment report that the ACMs supplied by Mega Pacific were technologically superior and 100 percent accurate for use in the 2004 elections.
He said the ACMs supplied by Mega Pacific were "accurate, dependable and reliable" in ensuring the integrity of the ballot in the 2007 elections.
Abalos said the ACMs can detect and reject fake, previously counted and photocopied ballots, unlike the more expensive machines offered by another bidder — Total Information Management Corp.
He said DOST Secretary Estrella Alabastro even publicly stated that she was willing to stake her reputation in attesting to the ACM’s reliability and accuracy.
Comelec Commissioner Resurreccion Borra, who was in charge of the election modernization program, now faces an impeachment complaint for alleged graft.
During the same forum, lawyer Gabriel Villareal, who represents Borra, reiterated that the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction over constitutional officers, which include members of the Comelec, because the Constitution states that they can only be removed by no other method except by impeachment in Congress.
Villareal made it clear that Abalos, Borra and other Comelec officials under probe by the Ombudsman are "anxious to be heard, defend themselves and clear their names," but before the proper forum, which is the House of Representatives.
He pointed out that the Constitution gave the House the exclusive authority to initiate impeachment proceedings, "which includes the task of discovering the facts and uncovering the evidence needed in filing a sworn complaint for impeachment."
Lawyer Oliver Lozano filed an impeachment compliant at the House of Representatives against him in mid-July.
Comelec lawyers questioned the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction, arguing that the Ombudsman has no authority to investigate impeachable officials.
Lawyer Federico Alday said an administrative complaint must first be filed before the Ombudsman could recommend the impeachment of an official.