Comelec executive blows top over bribery allegations

MANILA, Philippines – The head of the Commission on Elections-Special Bids and Awards Committee (Comelec-SBAC) blew his top yesterday over a circulating text message that he received a P2-million bribe from leading bidder Smartmatic and Total Information Management Corp.

“That is malicious! I deny that categorically. I never received anything, asked for anything and I have no intention to receive or demand anything,” said SBAC chief Ferdinand Rafanan when informed by Comelec reporters about the text message.

The message read: “Smartmatic machine broke down last night (Wednesday night) and Comelec still wants to award the deal to Venezuelan government-owned corporation. Was it because Rafanan got P2-million bribe from Smartmatic?”

The text was referring to a precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine of Smartmatic that emitted smoke during a demonstration the other day. It turned out that the cable used to connect the machine to the battery was thin, causing a short circuit.

Rafanan vehemently denied the allegation as he challenged those circulating the message to “come out and face me... in any venue. They choose the place, I will go there alone.”

“They want to destroy everything – Smartmatic, me and the Comelec. If they know this is true, they should present their evidence and they should come out and identify themselves... They should be careful. They can be traced and if they cannot be found, they will answer to God,” he said.

The allegation was also belied by Smartmatic sales director Cesar Flores who claimed that the company is “going through very strict and stringent proceedings of qualification made by Comelec.”

“This has been very transparent. We deny any type of accusation of any wrongdoing. We are a very honest company and we are hoping that we be awarded this contract on a clean basis,” Flores added.

Yesterday morning, Makati Rep. Teddyboy Locsin, chairman of House Oversight Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reform, went to Comelec to observe the demonstration and expressed satisfaction on what he saw, saying that those with intention to manipulate next year’s elections would have a hard time doing so.

In a separate interview, Rafanan is hopeful that the bidding process would be finished and the automation contract could be awarded by middle of June.

Since Tuesday, Smartmatic’s PCOS machines have been scrutinized by SBAC, the technical working group and observers. Twenty-six criteria have been set to test the machines.

The machines have already hurdled 24 of the 26 criteria. As of press time, SBAC is checking if it can scan or produce images of each ballot’s front and backside and if it could store the images in its memory.

The battery reserve of the machines was also being tested to determine if it could run for 12 hours non-stop.

Late in the afternoon, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, who also came to observe the demonstration, underscored the need for Comelec to intensify its voter’s education to prevent disenfranchisement.

Gutierrez, who was made to cast her “vote,” said the ballot papers in particular appeared sensitive even to accidental blotting so the electorate must be made aware of this. – With Jose Rodel Clapano and Paolo Romero