Marcoleta: Garcia ‘diverting’ talks on concerns on Miru’s capabilities

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Garcia (L) and Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta (R). | PHOTOS: Official Facebook pages of COMELEC and Rodante Marcoleta

MANILA, Philippines — Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta believes Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Garcia is just diverting discussions from concerns about Miru Systems’ ability to deliver a credible, automated election system (AES) to the poll body chief’s alleged offshore accounts.

In a chance interview on Thursday, Marcoleta said the real point of the discussions about the 2025 elections is whether it is legal for Miru to implement a system that has not been used in the country, and if its machines and system are capable.

“I think there is some diversion happening here because basically what initiated these discussions is our desire for Comelec to answer basic questions like concerns on the procurement of Miru Systems and the machines. We had asked them if the Comelec was compliant with rules when they procured the system and the machines from Miru,” Marcoleta told reporters in Filipino.

“Because if you consider the automated election law, what was stated there, the system and the machines that must be procured by Comelec must have demonstrated capability. And this must have been successfully used in prior electoral exercises here and abroad,” he added.

Other lawmakers also raised concerns about the lack of demonstrated capability of Miru’s hybrid system.

Marcoleta also pointed out that there are questions about the bidding process undertaken by Comelec, which resulted in the contract given to Miru Systems, but Garcia supposedly chose to focus on the offshore account allegations.

“What he (Garcia) was saying, there was bidding because there were five contractors who bought bidding documents, but they did not show up. This means there was no bidding. If there was no bidding, Comelec violated Republic Act No. 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act) because all services [and] products that you procured should go through a bidding process,” the lawmaker said.

“If you did not go through a bidding, why do we have a procurement law? These are the fundamental questions, which were only diverted because information about offshore accounts arrived. These are only collateral issues,” he added.

INQUIRER.net sought the side of Garcia, but he has not yet replied as of posting time.

Last July 9, Marcoleta claimed that a Comelec official’s alleged offshore accounts received fund transfers worth P1 billion. He refused to divulge the identity of the Comelec official, but Garcia revealed it was him being referred to by the lawmaker.

Garcia clarified that he does not have offshore bank accounts, noting that such claims are a mere demolition job against him and the Comelec.

READ: P1-B moved from foreign banks to poll exec’s offshore accounts – Marcoleta

Among the allegations thrown by Marcoleta was a money transfer allegedly done on June 22, 2023. He said a certain Stephen Schultz/Kyong Baek allegedly transferred $148,000 from Standard Chartered Bank Jong Ro Main Branch in South Korea to Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore.

This supposedly happened alongside Comelec’s declaration that vote-counting machines (VCMs) used in the past election were unserviceable.

READ: Comelec chief urged to clarify, address alleged bribery

Last Aug. 1, Marcoleta said a volunteer in New York did bank transfers to two offshore accounts, which were supposedly traced to “George Erwin Mojica Garcia.”

Garcia, however, pointed out several potential holes in Marcoleta’s arguments, saying that his name was deliberately provided as a recipient and owner of the accounts that he does not really own.

He also said the fund transfers were done by a public relations firm based in the United States.

READ: Garcia: Bank accounts presented by Marcoleta ‘fake’, uses my name

This is not the first time that the P17.9-billion Full Automation System with Transparency Audit/Count (Fastrac) contract awarded to Miru Systems was questioned.

Last April 18, Aksyon Demokratiko member and former Caloocan City lawmaker Edgar Erice asked the Supreme Court to stop the Comelec from implementing its contract.

According to Erice, the contract violates the Automated Election Law because Miru would be trying a hybrid system which was supposedly never done in another country before.

READ: SC asked to stop Comelec – Miru deal for 2025 polls

Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and Rizal 2nd District Rep. Emigdio Tanjuatco III issued several statements, urging the Comelec to reuse the VCMs to save public funds.

READ: Comelec should reuse Smartmatic VCMs for 2025 polls, says lawmaker

Tanjuatco said the P8-billion fund for buying new VCMs can be used for other programs that can address the high prices of basic goods.

The contract that Comelec entered with Miru Systems includes the supply of 110,000 automated counting machines, election management systems, consolidation and canvassing systems, ballot printing, ballot boxes, and other peripherals.

READ: Comelec, Miru ink P17.99 B pact for automated 2025 polls