Commission on Elections spokesperson James Jimenez. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez on Tuesday sees no reason yet to cancel the poll body’s contract with F2 Logistics.
“There will have to be a valid reason for the rescission of the contract,” Jimenez said over ABS-CBN Channel when categorically asked if the contract with F2 Logistics could still be cancelled.
“There would have to be a violation of terms of conditions of the contract. There would have to be some sort of violation by F2, or a change in circumstances all of a sudden, hindi na kailangan ng Comelec yung kontrata, I suppose a case for rescission would have to be made then.”
“But in terms of what’s being floated now, in terms of suggestions being made, again that would not be grounds for rescission,” the spokesman went on.
It can be recalled that Comelec and F2 Logistics Philippines Inc., a cargo forwarder linked to a close associate of President Rodrigo Duterte, Dennis Uy, signed on Oct. 29 the deal worth P536 million for the distribution of ballots, vote-counting machines, and other supplies for the upcoming elections.
The deal was questioned by poll watchdogs and critics for a possible conflict of interest in entrusting the transportation of election equipment and supplies to a major campaign donor of President Duterte, who admitted that he donated P30 million on the incumbent president’s 2016 campaign.
“I can see where that’s coming from,” Jimenez said of the concerns raised by poll watchdogs.
“The question of conflict of interest was looked at, talagang chineck yan ng ating bids and awards committee, and it was found that there really was no grounds to say that there are conflicts of interest,” he added.
Jimenez, in a series of tweets, also pointed out that those who will deliver the vote counting machines (VCM) will not affect the count.
He pointed out that the VCMs would undergo final testing and would be sealed up to three days before the elections to ensure that the VCMs are working properly. Back up VCMs would be used if the machines malfunction, he added. After that, he said, the VCM transmits election returns to the municipal canvassing system, the central server and the transparency server. After the transmission, the main memory card is hand carried by the electoral board to the municipal canvassing system, Jimenez explained.
“As you can see, at no point is the logistics provider able to tamper with the election outcome, either because of process safeguards (like the zero-report) or the fact that the VCMs have practically nothing to do with the results once the results have been reported out. All this on top of the fact that the actual deliveries will be witnessed and monitored closely,” Jimenez said in a Twitter post.
Will who delivers the vote counting machines affect the count?
No. 1) after delivery, VCMs undergo final testing & sealing up to three days BEFORE Election Day, so on Election Day, we know the VCMs are working properly; 2) if the machines still malfunction, backup VCMs are used— James Jimenez (@jabjimenez) November 2, 2021
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