Comelec chief won’t resign

MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections Chairman George Garcia will not step down from his post amid bribery allegations concerning the purchase of new voting machines to be used in the May 2025 midterm elections.

Neither he nor any Comelec member will resign or take a leave of absence based on false and unfounded allegations circulating on social media, according to Garcia.

“That’s impossible. It is impossible for a member of the commission to take a leave or file a courtesy resignation. Are they crazy?” he said in response to media queries concerning calls for him to step down from his post.

“It’s like we’re saying that their accusations are true. For me, I won’t stoop to that level of being told to resign, take leave,” he added, his comment applauded by poll officials and employees.

The Comelec chief expressed belief that a troll farm was behind the online calls for his resignation.

He said he is not used to such kind of attacks, but the poll body will continue to fight misinformation being peddled on social media.

Yesterday, all the other six Comelec members as well as other ranking poll officials and employees came in full force to express their support for Garcia.

Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said the ongoing demolition job is not just against Garcia, but the entire poll body.

“As you can see, we are united, so we will see to it that those persons who are doing these malicious attacks against our institutions will be responsible,” Casquejo added.

Commissioner Socorro Inting urged those behind the attack against Garcia not to “crucify” the poll body in the “court of public opinion.”

Inting said Comelec members are ready to defend themselves in court.

She further assured Garcia that the accusations against him would be dismissed if filed in court, considering that four of the six local bank accounts claimed to be under his name were proven to be spurious.

Commissioner Aimee Ferolino turned emotional as she expressed disgust over the controversy and that Garcia, whom she described as “the most hardworking chairman,” is being subjected to false accusations.

Garcia said he is just awaiting the results of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) investigation and would soon file legal suits against those behind the demolition job.

He added that at present, the NBI already has a lead on those behind the false accusations being peddled against him.

The Comelec, however, declined to confirm whether technology provider Smartmatic is behind the misinformation against him.

He said charges of falsification of document is likely to be filed against the individual who is in possession of the document containing the list of spurious local bank accounts.

‘Baseless, careless’

Technology provider Miru System strongly condemned the bribery allegations being hurled against the company.

“This is a serious allegation that should not have been made public without any evidence,” Miru said in a statement released yesterday.

“We have nothing but a professional relationship with everyone in the Comelec,” it added.

The “baseless and careless” accusations not only malign the company’s name, but also distract them from their work with the Comelec, according to the company.

Miru expressed willingness to cooperate with any government agency that will conduct an investigation and legal action against those behind the misinformation drive.

Miru also gave its full backing for the Comelec’s call for redress in the proper forum.