2016 polls must happen, says Palace after Smartmatic deal defeat at SC

MALACAÑANG on Wednesday said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should be able to guarantee that the 2016 national elections will push through despite the Supreme Court decision nullifying a deal to repair voting machines.

READ: ‘No-El’ fears in 2016 as SC junks Smartmatic deal

“As you know, they (Comelec) are constitutionally mandated by our Charter to ensure that elections push through,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said during a press briefing.

Lacierda said the public is also expecting to exercise their right to vote in 2016.

He said the Comelec should comply with the Constitution and the law on automated elections.

“As to how they will handle 2016, again, we are not in the position to say. Being an independent constitutional commission, we would defer to them to ensure that elections happen,” the spokesperson said.

Lacierda said they are also awaiting the response of the Comelec to the decision, which nullified the P268.8-million deal between the Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM. The deal, which involves the repair of 82,000 voting machines for the automated elections in May 2016, was signed by former Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. just days before his retirement in February.

SC said the Comelec violated the procurement law because it did not call for a public bidding and instead went directly to Smartmatic, which supplied the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines during the 2010 and 2013 elections.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez earlier told media that they are already looking into several options following the adverse decision.

“We will leave it with Comelec to make sure how to operationalize the 2016 elections in the light of the Supreme Court decision,” Lacierda said.

Lawmakers, on the other hand, pointed out that the country cannot go back to manual voting unless the law on automated elections is amended. AC