Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia (PNA file photo by Yancy Lim)
MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday maintained the legality of the poll automation contract it has entered into with South Korean service provider Miru Systems for the May 2025 midterm elections.
Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia, however, said he would keep mum on the allegations of critics, particularly former Caloocan representative Edgar Erice against the PHP18.8 billion Full Automation System with Transparency Audit/Count (FASTrAC) project.
The South Korean firm offered a bid of PHP17.9 billion for the project.
“Hindi din po balat sibuyas ang Comelec (The Comelec is not onion-skinned). We will not file a motion to cite him in contempt. Sa ating paniniwala (We believe), this is a free country. Anybody can say their piece. Sa ating paniniwala, maayos ang aming (We believe that we have a legal) contract with Miru and it will have to be resolved by the Supreme Court (SC),” Garcia said in an interview.
The poll body chief said any statement about the issue should be discussed before the high court.
“Kung ano man gusto niya sabihin, maganda din sabihin niya lahat sa korte suprema dahil andun na ang case niya. Siya naman nag-file ng case niya sa (Whatever it is that he wants to say, it would be better to say it before the Supreme Court where his case is pending. It was him who filed a case before the) SC. The first person who should respect the exercise of jurisdiction of the SC should be the petitioner of the case," Garcia said.
The poll body chief has earlier declined Erice's invitation to join a press briefing on the matter.
Also on Wednesday, Erice warned that the use of Miru machines for the 2025 elections will lead to chaos and confusion among voters.
“There will be no other outcome but chaos because Comelec deliberately violated the Automated Election Law and the Procurement Law, gravely abused its discretion in many instances, and violated its own Terms of Reference, just to ensure the PHP18 billion Comelec-Miru contract pushes through,” he said in a press briefing.
Erice also enumerated multiple reasons proving that Comelec engaged in an "anomalous contract" with the South Korean firm, starting with proposing a machine that has never been used in any elections worldwide.
“It would cost almost PHP18 billion to rent, not buy, these voting machines. This is stupidity of the highest order,” he said, adding that the government's expenses for each of the past elections in the country did not even reach PHP6 billion.
Last month, the SC required Comelec and Miru to submit their comments on the petition. (PNA)
