MANILA, Philippines — “It was not about money.”

Thus was how Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) president Jose Mari Antuñez claimed that financial matters were not the key factor in his company’s decision to reconcile with Dutch partner Smartmatic International to run computerized elections in 2010.

But Antuñez refused to disclose details of the discussion.

“I don’t want to mention what we discussed. It’s already over. Like a couple who had just ironed out their differences, I don’t want to go back anymore. It’s difficult. Anyway, we were able to fix everything,” he said, adding:

“Basta tapos na ang tampuhan (The hurt feelings are over). Let’s just bury what happened and move forward.”

Antuñez, whose purported demand for P500 million from Smartmatic was said to have stalled the signing of the contract for the poll automation project, vehemently denied that he had asked TIM’s foreign partner for money.

“That’s not true. The issue was not about money,” he told reporters in a firm voice as he emerged yesterday from a closed-door meeting with Smartmatic executives and senior officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

He said the disbursement of the P7.2-billion budget for the poll automation project was never mentioned during the two-hour meeting.

Done deal

Antuñez downplayed the possibility that TIM might again walk out of its partnership with Smartmatic.

“We cannot back out because we already signed [the joint-venture contract]. The deal is done,” he said.

When asked what made him reconsider his earlier decision to abandon the poll automation project, he replied: “We just negotiated and agreed [to form the joint venture].”

Antuñez also denied reports that he was close with the First Family and some opposition leaders.

But he admitted that his company was commissioned by the late opposition standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr. to do a quick count of the 2007 presidential elections.

Professional

“We are apolitical. We don’t have any relationship with any politician. What I had in the past were professional engagements,” he said.

Asked if somebody aside from Comelec officials had brokered the reconciliation between TIM and Smartmatic, Antuñez paused briefly and then said: “No. We just discussed among ourselves.”

(The Aboitiz Group also denied the allegation of Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño that Antuñez’s brother Julio was married to a scion of the Aboitiz family. “Contrary to reports, there is no relationship by blood or marriage between the Aboitiz family and the family of Jose Mari Antuñez,” Carol Ballesteros, Aboitiz assistant vice president for branding and corporate communications, said in a company statement.)

Contentious details

According to Comelec officials and sources privy to the discussion, Smartmatic and TIM executives were negotiating the terms of their joint-venture corporation until the last minute.

Minutes before Comelec Chair Jose Melo conducted a press briefing at 4 p.m., sources said there were still glitches in the incorporation papers that were to be signed.

Speaking on condition of anonymity for lack of authority to discuss the matter publicly, a TIM executive and a Comelec source said the idea of teaming up with Smartmatic had become viable again, but that there were some contentious details in the contract.

Still, the closed-door, two-hour meeting was “very cordial” and “very productive,” according to Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento.

“The two parties were able to discuss their concerns. They were able to make some clarifications,” Sarmiento told the Inquirer. He declined to give specific details in compliance with Melo’s instruction.

Asked if the parties talked about Antuñez’s purported demand for P500 million, Sarmiento said: “I don’t think it was discussed.”

He said Melo and other senior Comelec officials briefly met with the representatives of TIM and Smartmatic before the two companies held their lengthy discussion.

Sarmiento said public pressure as well as the intervention of some lawmakers might have pushed the TIM executives to patch up differences with Smartmatic.

“The opinion of the people and the media in support of the automation project could have helped them see the light of the day,” he said.

According to the Comelec official who asked not to be named, Melo made it clear to the two firms during a meeting on Tuesday—a day after TIM withdrew from the deal because of purported disagreements over funding, control and liabilities—that there would be consequences if they backed out of the poll automation project.

Nonstop talks

TIM legal counsel Boy de Borja said talks between executives of the two firms had been practically nonstop since Melo ordered them to iron out their differences.

De Borja said the talks were full of “ups and downs.”

“We really gave it a chance. For my client, there was always the urge for the national interest” he said.

A Smartmatic source said on Thursday afternoon that the dialogue was breaking down. But late that day, some sort of resolution was made, the source said.

By Friday morning, Comelec legal chief Ferdinand Rafanan had hinted of a “positive” outcome.

A TIM official said another issue cropped up on Friday morning, but that they were able to resolve it. With a report from Irene R. Sino Cruz, Inquirer Visayas