Election watchdog calls for independent probe on Comelec bribery allegations

Election watchdog Kontra Daya on Friday staged a protest outside the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office to call for an independent probe on the poll body’s bribery allegations.

Kontra Daya convenor Kim Cantillas hit the bribery allegations allegedly received by Comelec from South Korean firm Miru Systems.

“Dapat maglunsad ng imbestigasyon sa alegasyon tungkol sa panunuhol ng Miru at isiwalat ang katotohanan sa publiko (There should be an investigation addressing the alleged bribery done by Miru and tell the truth to the public),” Cantillas said.

“Ipinapanawagan pa rin namin ang isang demokratiko, malinis, at transparent na na eleksyon kung saan makikita ng mamamayan na nabibilang nang tama ang mga boto niya (We’re clamoring for a democratic, clean, and transparent election where each voter could see their votes being counted correctly),” she added.

Comelec Chairperson George Garcia on Wednesday asked the Anti-Money Laundering Council to probe the allegations that he was accepting bribes from a South Korean firm through offshore banks.

This, after Sagip partylist Rep. Rodante Marcoleta accused him off receiving at least P1 billion worth of funds from the firm via offshore accounts.

Comelec awarded in February the contract for vote-counting machines for the 2025 midterm elections to Miru Systems.

The contract is worth P17.9 billion, lower than the Comelec’s budget of P18.8 billion.

The contract included 110,000 automated counting machines, 104,345 ballot boxes, and 2,200 CCS servers/laptops and printers. It also includes the printing of 73,851,934 ballots, ballot papers, and ballot verification.