On the early morning of election day, May 9, 2016, several automated voting machines were allegedly sighted at the Novotel, a high-rise hotel at the Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City. Soon enough, groups of people started arriving at the hotel, including representatives of the PDP-Laban party of presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte, to verify the report.
The PDP-Laban had good reason to be upset because the Araneta Center is owned by the family of Mar Roxas, the presidential bet of the pro-administration Liberal Party. It also turned out that some 20 top executives of Smartmatic, the provider of the voting machines being used in the elections, were billeted at the same hotel. They are foreigners working at the National Technical Support Center (NTSC) of the Commission on Elections. The NTSC is located at the Abiva Building along Araneta Avenue, near Talayan Village in Quezon City.
At first, the hotel management refused to allow anybody to inspect the premises. When Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista arrived at the hotel several hours later, however, arrangements were reluctantly made for an inspection of five hotel rooms. The inspection yielded negative results.
Before leaving the scene, Bautista said that the foreigners at the NTSC of the Comelec are in the country to help in the elections.
Was the incident a false alarm? Circumstances surrounding the incident invite several questions.
First, why is the Comelec NTSC located several kilometers away from the Comelec head office in Intramuros, Manila, and even farther from the Comelec command center at the Philippine International Convention Center at the reclamation area in Pasay City? As a “technical support center,” shouldn’t the NTSC be stationed as near as possible to the Comelec command center at the PICC? There are enough office spaces at the Comelec head office and at the PICC to accommodate the NTSC. Even the location of the NTSC is suspicious. It is in an inaccessible area in the northwest sector of Quezon City. If the purpose of putting the NTSC at a secluded place is to keep its existence a secret from the public and the political opposition, then its current location is perfect for that objective. Perhaps, its existence would have remained a secret were it not for the report that voting machines were seen at Novotel.
Second, since the Comelec is presumed to be paying the rental for the office space used by its NTSC in the Abiva Building, then public money was spent for the lease. Under the procurement law, extraordinary government expenditures like the lease of office space in a private building require a public bidding prior to approval. Was the requisite public bidding actually conducted by the Comelec?
Third, why were these foreigners “helping out” in the elections? Under the law, foreigners are prohibited from getting involved in Philippine elections, and foreigners who violate this prohibition are summarily deported. Even assuming, for the sake of argument, that the foreign executives of Smartmatic are authorized to tinker with Philippine elections, why was this information concealed from the public and the media?
Fourth, are these foreigners paid compensation taken from public funds? The law does not allow the disbursement of public funds to pay salaries of foreigners. A violation of this prohibition constitutes graft. Fifth, why were the foreigners billeted at Novotel? According to the official explanation, these foreigners “were looking for the nearest convenient hotel, and they felt that Novotel in Cubao is convenient.” What hogwash!
Is Novotel at the Araneta Center in Cubao the only hotel convenient enough to the Smartmatic foreign executives who hold office several kilometers away near Talayan Village? Of course not! There are many first class hotels located on Timog Avenue, West Avenue and Quezon Avenue areas in Quezon City which are nearer to Talayan Village than the Araneta Center is. Why weren’t these hotels chosen?
If convenience were the main consideration in choosing Novotel, the choice would not make sense. Even a high school student knows that the farther a destination is, the more inconvenient it is to go there.
Sixth, who is paying for the accommodations of the Smartmatic foreign executives at Novotel? If the Comelec is picking up the bill, then public funds must have been involved. There being an expenditure of public money, was the required public bidding conducted by the Comelec?
Seventh, if the Smartmatic foreign executives were helping out in the elections as Comelec Chairman Bautista alleges, then they should be non-partisan, for obvious reasons. In fact, it is not enough that these foreign executives are non-partisan. They must also be seen by the Filipino people as non-partisan, if the election is to be considered credible. Such requisite neutrality was sorely wanting here.
The Smartmatic foreign executives chose to billet at Novotel where the LP national headquarters was just within easy reach, instead of some other hotel distant enough from any political party headquarters. From an ethical perspective, their decision to billet at Novotel smacks of audacity and gall. What they did is an insult to the Filipino electorate.
Eighth, were there really no automated voting machines at Novotel? Hotel management allowed an inspection only after the lapse of several hours before the report came out. Were “remedial measures” taken in the meantime? Although there were 20 Smartmatic foreign executives billeted at the hotel, only five rooms were allowed to be inspected. Why?
As of this writing, the vice presidential race appears to be a close one. At the end of election day, Leni Robredo, the LP bet, was losing to her opponent, Senator Bongbong Marcos, by a million votes. The next day, she was almost tied with Bongbong. Lately, she has been leading by 200,000 votes. Does the Marcos camp have good reason to suspect cyber anomaly?
The Novotel controversy may provide the answer, and a real investigation on this incident should be undertaken.