MANILA, Philippines—The ties that bind Jose Mari Antuñez to the Aboitiz clan that is closely linked to the First Family and his bid to gain control of the electronic voting system are threatening to torpedo next year’s automated elections, a leftist lawmaker said Wednesday.

As the Commission on Elections (Comelec) attempted to salvage the unraveling joint venture between Smartmatic International and its local partner headed by Antuñez, Total Information Management Corp. (TIM), Rep. Teodoro Casiño called for an inquiry.

The Bayan Muna representative said in a text message to reporters that it would be worth Congress’ while to “look into how TIM entered into the picture and who brokered their joint venture with Smartmatic.”

Who brokered joint venture?

Casiño said his curiosity over TIM’s connections was piqued when he found out that a brother of Antuñez, Julio, was married to one of the Aboitiz scions.

The Aboitiz family is close to President Macapagal-Arroyo and is based in Cebu, regarded as an administration bailiwick.

Not just money but contract

TIM, which grew to become the biggest all-Filipino IT provider after starting as a seller of refurbished IBM equipment two decades ago, lists the Aboitiz group of companies, including Union Bank of the Philippines, among its biggest clients.

The Aboitizes’ participation in the P7.2-billion automation contract was revealed during a Senate inquiry last week when Comelec admitted that Aboitiz Transport System’s 2GO would ship the 82,200 counting machines to be used in next year’s elections.

“The question is why is TIM now asserting itself against its partner Smartmatic to the point of jeopardizing the whole automation process? I think it’s not just about the money. Perhaps TIM is deliberately sabotaging the automation because it could not get its way in controlling Smartmatic’s system for the benefit of its power backers,” Casiño said.

House inquiry

Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo Plaza said he would file a resolution seeking a probe separate from the Senate investigation of the TIM-Smartmatic joint venture meltdown when Congress opens on July 27.

Casiño and Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin will endorse the probe that will be conducted jointly by the House committees on good government and suffrage and electoral reforms.

“That is a serious matter that Congress should investigate. I don’t know if he (Antuñez) just wants to make easy money or another party is seeking to raise the amount,” said Plaza.

Locsin has told reporters that Antuñez had told Smartmatic’s lawyers in jest that half a billion pesos would solve their differences during a meeting a few days ago in a Makati hotel.

He said that this was taken “seriously” by Smartmatic’s lawyers because it was just the latest in a string of “impossible demands” that the TIM majority owner had been making since the joint venture won the Comelec bid.

Deal breaker

Locsin said that it proved to be the deal breaker (“It’s like asking for Angelina Jolie which is impossible unless one looks like Brad Pitt”) because it showed that Antuñez did not want the partnership to continue.

“He should respect this (poll automation contract), he should not make jokes about it. If you will make a joke like that, be prepared for the consequences because it’s not funny. The lawyers in this case should have stepped aside and said, ‘don’t talk like that, if you talk like that you will have to face Congress’,” Locsin said.

By coming out with his P500-million demand, Plaza said that Antuñez was practically demanding that Smartmatic “buy him out or buy his silence” in the partnership.

“We have to look into this because his demand has placed the entire 2010 elections in jeopardy,” Plaza said, adding Antuñez would be the primary witness in the probe.

Comelec has no choice

More than the issue of money, Casiño said there was more than meets the eye to the intracorporate squabble.

“I don’t think they are fighting about money because both of them stand to earn a lot from the venture. I think they are fighting on who will get control of the system which ultimately is the most important aspect of the project,” he said.

Plaza and Locsin said that the Comelec had no choice but to rebid the project because the fallout between the partners resulted in a failed bidding.

But Plaza said the Comelec should peg the value of a new poll automation contract at P7.2 billion, or the same as TIM-Smartmatic’s bid.

Locsin said the losing bidders that were likely to give the project a second look would be placed in a bind as the Smartmatic-TIM’s winning proposal made their bids look padded. “They might have to cut corners in order to make a bid lower than that,” Locsin said.

Happy days are here again

Casiño said the big question was whether the Comelec had time for a rebid, given the limited time and the lack of competence of Comelec officials.

With automation on its deathbed, operators of “dagdag-bawas”—vote shaving and padding—will be back in business, he said.

“It’s happy time again for the dagdag-bawas operators and in that game, it’s the highest bidder that really has the advantage,” Casiño said.