Smartmatic told: Nobody leave

Photo of Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon at the Comelec Canvassing Center inside the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City. JULLIANE LOVE DE JESUS/INQUIRER.net

ELECTION Commissioner Rowena Guanzon on Monday formally asked her colleagues to prevent officials of poll technology provider Smartmatic from leaving the country pending an investigation into an “unauthorized” script change in the transparency server.

But while Guanzon sought a hold-departure memorandum for the Smartmatic personnel, Commission on Elections Chair Andres Bautista said no one from Smartmatic had expressed an intention to leave.

Bautista said he did not see the need to coordinate with the Bureau of Immigration on the matter.

In a memorandum, Guanzon urged the Comelec en banc, through steering committee chair Commissioner Christian Robert Lim, to issue an order for the prohibition in view of the investigation to be conducted by the poll body.

Guanzon said the multinational company’s officers and employees should remain in the Philippines until the investigation was concluded.

“Considering further the public interest involved and the urgency of the matter, I encouraged the en banc to act on the issue with haste and dispatch,” she said.

Guanzon criticized Smartmatic after its project director, Marlon Garcia, changed the script of the transparency server, which is housed at the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting headquarters, on the night of Election Day.

The tweaking was revealed by the camp of Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is just behind front-runner Rep. Leni Robredo in the vice presidential race.

In a separate briefing, Bautista said the poll body was open to an investigation provided it was given the opportunity to finish the ongoing canvassing.

The Comelec, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), is currently canvassing the votes in the senatorial and party-list races.

Asked if the Smartmatic personnel should be allowed to leave, Bautista said: “I think we should follow what the law provides. Right now there is an investigation. I don’t think anybody is thinking about leaving.”

Bautista earlier described the script change on the Comelec transparency server as a minor “cosmetic change” that did not alter the partial and unofficial quick count and did not constitute cheating.