MANILA, Philippines -- A key ally of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the House of Representatives parried attacks against the head of Total Information Management Inc. (TIM) and said the issue behind the withdrawal of the local technology from the 2010 elections automation project was not money but its role in the automation process.

Quezon Representative Danilo Suarez said he had talked with Jose Mari Antunez of TIM Thursday morning to discuss the controversy that has put the automation in peril.

Suarez branded as “outright malicious” talks that Antunez was close to First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and that the TIM owner asked for P500 million from its foreign partner, Smartmatic International Corp.

Makati Representative Teodoro Locsin had claimed that Antunez had demanded half a billion pesos from Smartmatic to proceed with a joint venture agreement and allow the bid the consortium won to move forward and sign a formal contract with the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

“The allegation was very malicious, the bidding was cutthroat, patayan sa presyo [the bids were close], and the award has been made already, the question is the perfection of the joint venture agreement,” Suarez told reporters in an interview on the sidelines of the oversight committee, which he heads.

At the hearing, he added: “Sino pa ang sira ulo na manghihingi pa ng P500 million pagkatapos pabagsakin ang presyo sa bidding? [Who is crazy enough to ask for P500 million after bringing the bids down?]”

Suarez, who claims to know Antunez as they are both members of the Manila Golf Club, said the P7.2-billion contract with the Comelec “will not make him (Antunez) rich or poor,” adding that the TIM head was n established businessman in the information technology business, whose clients include big banks and corporations.

While saying this, the congressman said that someone making money out of a closed deal was a “standard business parlance.”

Suarez said P500 million or about seven percent of the total amount of contract of P7.2 billion was an “acceptable and tolerable amount.”

“If that is the fee to TIM, then there is really nothing wrong with that as long as they pay the taxes,” he added.

Suarez said the issue between the TIM pull out was just “control and participation” of the firm as a local partner.

“Sayang ang programa [The program could go to waste], but I think the Filipino partner has the right to object,” he said.

The two firms has been given by the Comelec until Friday to patch up their differences. The poll body sad it would look for alternatives, including the possibility of partnering with Smartmatic, if TIM continues with its pull out.