The Supreme Court (SC) yesterday nullified the P268.8-million contract entered into by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and technology provider Smartmatic-Total Information Management (Smartmatic-TIM) for being unconstitutional, putting in question the ability of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to hold an automated 2016 presidential elections with only over a year left to prepare.
According to Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr., who has been reported to be eyeing the presidency in 2016, the current election laws prohibit the reversion of the mode of Philippine voting from electronic to manual.
“There is already a law mandating computer voting. We have to go to electronic counting (of votes). We don’t have a choice on that matter,” Marcos told Senate reporters.
However, the 1987 Constitution is explicit in mandating the holding of the regular election for president and vice president on the second Monday of May.
In a unanimous decision penned by Associate Justice Estella Perlas Bernabe, the SC struck down Comelec Resolution No. 9922, which awarded Smartmatic-TIM the contract for the diagnosis and minor repair services for 80,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines that will be used in 2016 elections as well as the Extended Warranty Contract given to the firm, for violating several existing laws.
Manila Bulletin
