MANILA, Philippines -- Malacañang on Sunday made it clear that it had only high expectations from the Smartmatic-Total Information Management (TIM) consortium in handling the historic full automation of Philippine elections in 2010.

Gabriel Claudio, presidential political adviser, said the partnership should put more premium on reforming the country’s electoral system than cashing in on the automation project.

“We hope that the renewed teamwork between Smartmatic and TIM will be imbued now with a sense of mission beyond profit and focused on helping our country transform its electoral process into a modern, reliable, and credible institution,” he said.

Malacañang was apparently elated with the two firms’ eleventh-hour decision to patch things up and proceed with the P7.2-billion poll automation deal they had cornered from the Commission on Elections.

Early last week, TIM, the Netherlands-based Smartmatic’s local partner, announced that it was pulling out of the partnership because of so-called “irreconcilable differences.”

Now that the matter had been settled, Claudio said there should be “less heckling and cynicism that serve only to unduly distract and discredit the efforts of our election officials.”

“With responsible cooperation among Comelec, their service providers, election watchdogs and the electorate, we can look forward to an electoral exercise Filipinos can all be proud of,” he said.

“It is the credibility and efficiency of the elections next year that can best guarantee the political harmony and stability of our country after 2010.”