MANILA, Philippines The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will appeal the ruling of the Supreme Court (SC) that found the poll body guilty of grave abuse of discretion when it disqualified election technology provider Smartmatic Philippines (Smartmatic) from participating in all its public bidding and procurement processes related to the elections.
At the same time, however, Chairman George Erwin Garcia also clarified that the ruling of the Court has no effect in the upcoming 2025 midterm election.
The poll chief also said that even as they were filing a motion for reconsideration, the Commission respected and accepted the High Court ruling that "we committed grave abuse of discretion."
Garcia said that grave abuse of discretion or petition for certiorari was normally filed against agencies of the government, quasi-judicial body, administrative body and even the court.
"The Supreme Court said that Smartmatic should not have been disqualified but whatever happened -- the awarding of contract, the procurement -- after Smartmatic was disqualified remains valid," added Garcia.
"That is called 'operative fact doctrine.' Perspective view, everything that happened [after the disqualification] are valid. We have no problem with our award, It has no effect therefore on the coming 2025 midterm elections," he further said.
Garcia also pointed out that despite the ruling, the Comelec's integrity remained intact as the whole process related to procurement and awarding of the contract to Miru Systems of South Korea has not been marred by any allegations or accusations of corruption.
The ruling, he further said, likewise clarified the extent of the authority of the Comelec as an independent constitutional body, particularly on the issue of procurement, noting that when the Commission en banc disqualified Smartmatic, "the extent of our authority was not yet clear."
"Our integrity is intact. The beauty of this case is that it clarified the extent of the authority of the Comelec. If the decision becomes final, at least the Commission, and even the next Commission, is now guided on the extent of our authority. We really welcome the decision," Garcia further said.
Garcia said Smartmatic was disqualified because of integrity problems related to the 2016 elections. but refused to elaborate relative to an ongoing investigation by the United States government against former Comelec chairman Juan Andres Bautista and other individuals and entities for violation of US criminal laws.
"We have a mutual legal assistance treaty with the United States. We are obliged not to reveal information related to the case," he added.
At the same time, Garcia also disclosed that they received information that another petition will be filed today (Thursday) before the High Court questioning the awarding of the automated election system contract to Miru Systems.
Garcia admitted that the petition could pose problems to the Commission in the event that a temporary restraining order (TRO) would be issued because that would stop all ongoing preparations related to the production of the 110,000 automated counting machines (ACM) that will be used in the 2025 elections.
"We could have some problem if a TRO is issued because it would delay our timetable and comprosme our 2025 elections," he said
But meanwhile, Garcia said that Comelec will proceed and continue all its scheduled activities related to next year's elections in the absence of a TRO.
The Comelec en banc issued the disqualification against Smartmatic on Nov. 29, 2023.
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