Comelec to file motion for reconsideration after SC ruling on Smartmatic ban

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said it will file a motion for reconsideration after the Supreme Court (SC) overturned the ban on automated election system provider Smartmatic that prevented it from bidding poll contracts.

The SC said the poll body committed a grave abuse of discretion.

"Magmo-motion for reconsideration tayo, pero gusto ko pong sabihin na tanggap din po namin kahit paano yung desisyon (We will file a motion for reconsideration, but I want to say that we also accept the decision no matter what)," Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia said in a radio interview.

Garcia maintained that the ruling does not affect the integrity of the Commission.

"Wala naman po kaming issue ng integrity, lalong-lalo na yung isyu ng eleksyon noong 2016 (We don't have an issue of integrity, especially the issue of the election in 2016)," Garcia said.

"At that time na dinis-qualify namin sila, hindi pa namin alam ang extend ng kapangyarihan namin. Ngayon pong nagdesisyon ang Korte Suprema, ang magiging pinal na desisyon, at least po guided na ang Komisyon... doon sa extent ng aming kapangyarihan kaya po welcome na welcome sa amin yun (At the time when we disqualified them, we didn't know the extent of our power. Now that the Supreme Court has decided, it will be the final decision, and at least the Commission has been guided... to the extent of our power. That's very welcome," he added.

Garcia said the ruling will also not affect the contract to supply vote-counting machines for the 2025 midterm elections that was awarded to South Korean firm Miru Systems.

"Basta kami tuloy-tuloy kami sa lahat ng naka-schedule naming aktibidad. Hindi po kami hihinto sapagkat ayaw naming ma-compromise o ma-delay kami, sapagkat maco-compromise po yung preparation natin sa 2025, hangga't hindi tayo pinahihinto ng Korte Suprema (We will just continue will all our scheduled activities. We will not stop because we do not want to be compromised or delayed, because our preparations for the 2025 elections will also be compromised, we will not stop until the Supreme Court tells us to stop)," he added.

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 United States 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.