Gadon: Smartmatic cheated Marcos in 2016

Presidential Adviser for Poverty Alleviation Secretary Larry Gadon hailed the decision of Comelec on Wednesday to disqualify Smartmatic from participating in all procurements in the upcoming elections.

"I hail the decision of COMELEC in disqualifying Smartmatic from participating in any upcoming and future elections in the Philippines," Gadon said.

Gadon added it was Smartmatic that cheated President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the 2016 vice presidential race.

"In 2016, Smartmatic cheated BBM in the vice-presidential race which was confirmed by the results of the 2022 elections. In 2022, Smartmatic was unable to cheat PBBM by reason of the overwhelming turnout of voters which resulted in 31 million votes for PBBM, the highest presidential votes ever. The second highest being former President Rodrigo Duterte at 18 million votes. The Marcos loyalist votes took vengeance as a protest to the 2016 cheating," Gadon said.

Gadon lamented that Smartmatic also cheated in the 2022 elections, questioning the win of senatorial candidates who criticized Marcos for getting more votes in the Ilocano provinces and accusing the service provider of selling Senate seats.

"How can some candidates who call PBBM son of a dictator, tax evader, son of a human rights violator and many other derogatory names get more votes in Ilocano provinces than some Uniteam senatorial candidates?" Gadon asked.

In February 2021, the Supreme Court unanimously junked the electoral protest filed by Marcos against then-Vice President Leni Robredo.