The Supreme Court has overturned the ban on automated election system provider Smartmatic that prevented it from bidding for poll contracts as the tribunal said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) committed a grave abuse of discretion.
SC spokesperson Camille Ting, however, said the ruling will not affect the contract to supply vote-counting machines for the 2025 elections that was awarded to South Korean firm Miru Systems.
Comelec banned Smartmatic Philippines Inc. in November 2023 after the company was implicated in a corruption probe launched by the US government.
The ban meant the local unit of the London-headquartered firm was not allowed to take part in the tender for the 2025 midterm elections, which was later awarded to Miru.
The ban stemmed from an investigation launched by the US Justice Department into bribes received in exchange for awarding a contract for election machines to Smartmatic Corp., according to Comelec.
Smartmatic, which participated in the last five Philippine national elections between 2010 and 2022, challenged the ban in court last December.
Grave abuse of discretion
According to a summary of the decision released on Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that Comelec had “committed grave abuse of discretion” by sanctioning Smartmatic.
However, it did not scrap the results of the 2025 tender for the P18.8-billion 2025 election system contract, which excluded Smartmatic.
In a statement, Smartmatic hailed the ruling as “a significant victory for fairness and the rule of law.”
“We remain committed to assisting the Comelec and the nation in advancing the modernization of our electoral processes,” said Christian Robert Lim, a lawyer representing Smartmatic.
Comelec chairman George Garcia said the poll body’s officials were meeting to discuss the ruling.
Lim said, “By rectifying Comelec’s questionable decision, the Court not only vindicated Smartmatic but also set a crucial precedent for upholding transparency and accountability in public procurement processes.”
In the United States, Smartmatic filed defamation lawsuits against allies of former President Donald Trump over claims its machines were used to manipulate the results of the 2020 election.
Ting said the Supreme Court “held that Comelec implemented a discretionary pre-qualification regime antithetical to the Government Procurement and Reform Act.”
The SC, Ting said, did not grant the TRO or WPI because Smartmatic was merely a prospective bidder with no actual, clear, and positive right. She said the high court found that Smartmatic would not suffer injury.
The SC, though, granted Smartmatic’s petition against the disqualification, Ting said, adding that with the decision, Smartmatic may participate in the next elections.
“As of now, Smartmatic can indeed participate in the next elections, but this is subject to, let’s say if anyone files a disqualification case against them again,” Ting said.
