President Rodrigo Duterte has asked the Commission on Elections to do away with its current service provider, Venezuelan company Smartmatic, and find one that is fraud-free.
Mr. Duterte acknowledged that the Comelec, as a constitutional commission, is independent of any branch of government, hence the appeal.
In the May 13 elections, there was a seven-hour delay in the transmission of results from the transparency server, making a mockery of the machine’s name. During the voting, hundreds of vote counting machines encountered various technical issues.
In making his case before the poll body, Mr. Duterte said Smartmatic was “creating turmoil” and has bred “an environment of hostile attitude” toward itself.
Of course, when the President became agitated later in his speech and said "Why are you insisting to Smartmatic? Because [of the] bidding? You should remove that f*ck*ng bidding,” the public would be well-advised to not believe Mr. Duterte really wanted to eliminate the standard government procurement process. We should anticipate his aides chalking this up to heightened emotion, even exaggeration for effect.
We don’t think, however, that anybody who has observed the past few elections could say he or she was ever happy with the way the elections were held using Smartmatic technology. In fact, even Liberal Party president Francis Pangilinan agrees with Mr. Duterte on this note.
The Comelec, for its part, has said it would not have legal basis to bar Smartmatic from a subsequent bidding. The agency’s spokesman, James Jimenez, also said there was a dearth of local tech companies that can offer a level of expertise and experience prescribed by election laws.
But if past shoddy performance were not basis for disqualifying an organization from the bidding, we cringe to imagine what could be.
We are sure that our brilliant election authorities could find a way to encourage competent and reputable companies to bid for the next elections. Admittedly, the stakes then would be so much higher, as 2022 would be a year we would elect the next president.
“Filipinos' votes are not being counted truthfully," said the President. In the name of democracy, there is no argument as simple, yet as compelling, as this.