Former Caloocan Representative Edgar Erice urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to act on the untested prototype electronic machines submitted by Miru Systems Company Limited for use in the May 2025 National and Local Elections which could undermine the integrity of the elections.
In a letter to the Comelec, Erice criticized Miru for presenting a prototype for Comelec’s evaluation, stating that it violates the law.
Erice, now the regional chair of the political party Aksyon Demokratiko, warned that if Comelec allows the use of the untested prototype, then it can be subject to a legal suit which could result in the court ruling against it and consequently jeopardizing the elections.
The former solon issued the statement after a recent hearing of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms raised serious questions about the ongoing bidding process that Miru Systems had submitted a prototype machine for the post-qualification process, which is forbidden by Philippine laws.
“This machine is a prototype. It has never been used in any elections. In Congo, they used a DRE machine. In Iraq and in Korea, they used an Optical Mark Reader (OMR) machine. And this combination of OMR and DRE machines has never been tested in any elections,” Erice said.
“We will be a Guinea Pig for this particular kind of machine. Republic Act 9369 prohibits this. We cannot use prototype machines in automated elections,” he said. A representative from Miru confirmed that the ACM submitted for the post-qualification evaluation was indeed custom-manufactured to meet Comelec’s requirements, acknowledging this model has not been used before.
Kabataan Representative Raoul Manuel stated that civic groups and organizations have “strong and valid concerns” over Miru’s track record, saying the Comelec’s decisions regarding the post-qualification process are high and cannot downplay these worries.
“Some NGOs and cybersecurity professionals found vulnerabilities in the Miru machines that made them susceptible to manipulation. They found numerous entry points that bad actors could exploit to manipulate the vote count,” Kontra-Daya said.
However, Rep.Maximo Jr. Y. Dalog of the Lone District of Mountain Province, who chairs the Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, clarified that Miru is not yet guaranteed to get the contract as the SBAC still has to make its recommendations, subject to the review of the Comelec en banc.
