Comelec also probing bribery rap vs Smartmatic, Bautista

Former Comelec chairman Andres Bautista —Inquirer photo/Grig C. Montegrande

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has launched a parallel investigation of the multimillion-peso bribery case involving its former chief, Andres Bautista, and Smartmatic, the firm that provided voting machines for the 2016 elections.

In an interview on ANC on Monday, Comelec Chair George Garcia said that while closely monitoring Bautista’s trial in the United States, the poll body would also conduct its own investigation “to find out who among our people were in connivance in that conspiracy in 2016.”

READ: Ex-poll chief Bautista facing US bribery raps

The US Department of Justice, in a news statement released on Aug. 8, said Bautista allegedly received at least $1 million in bribes from three executives of Smartmatic between 2015 and 2018.

They were identified as Smartmatic general manager Roger Piñate, vice president of Smartmatic’s global services unit Elie Moreno and Smartmatic vice president for external operation Jose Miguel Velasquez.

The US justice department, however, clarified the indictment was merely an allegation, and “all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law.”

According to Garcia, the Comelec has created an 11-man panel to investigate the allegations of rigging the bidding process and P700-million tax fraud.

He explained that under the automated election law, the procurement of poll-related equipment and materials from both local and foreign sources should be exempt from taxes and import duties.

But based on its documents, the Comelec paid Smartmatic P700 million in taxes, on top of the $199 million (about P9.5 billion) in contracts the firm won for the 2016 elections.