A former lawmaker on Friday warned that the use of the machines from Miru — the South Korean firm contracted to provide the automated technology for next year’s polls — “will lead to chaos and confusion among voters.”
Former Caloocan Representative Egay Erice claimed that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) “deliberately violated the Automated Election Law and the Procurement Law” as he alleged that the poll body “gravely abusee its discretion in many instances” just to ensure the P18-billion Comelec-Miru contract.
“For the past five elections, we have never even spent P6 billion per election. In this ‘lutong macau’ (rigged) contract, it will cost almost P18 billion to rent, not buy, the voting machines,” Erice said.
He also expressed concerns over the “potential upheaval and danger” posed by the new system.
“The system that will be used in the 2025 elections has never been used in any elections anywhere in the world. This means our elections will be used as a guinea pig in 2025,” said the former lawmaker.
Erice also accused Comelec of rigging the bidding process to favor Miru Systems, raising questions about the integrity of the upcoming elections as he vowed to release more videos to reveal the alleged “red flags and shady dealings” in the bidding process and called on Congress to probe and address the “potential dangers and disorder” that the Miru system might cause in the 2025 elections.
Meantime, Comelec spokesperson Atty. Rex Laudiangco refused to comment on Erice’s claims.
“Comelec would rather not comment as the former legislator had already filed a case regarding this which is now pending at the Supreme Court,” Laudiangco said in a message to DAILY TRIBUNE.
“As such, Comelec will follow strictly the subjudice rule in our utmost respect and compliance to the Highest Court of the Land,” he added.
