MANILA – The two warring partners settled their differences, thus paving the way for the planned automation of the local and national polls in May 2010, the head of the Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Friday.
A visibly elated retired Supreme Court justice Jose Melo, the Comelec chairman, himself disclosed that the Netherlands-based Smartmatic Corporation and its local partner, Total Information Management (TIM), ironed out their differences in a meeting at the Comelec national office in Intramuros district, Manila.
Aside from Melo as well as officials of the two companies, also present during the meeting were the five Comelec commissioners who helped hasten the contending parties to kiss and make up, Melo also said.
“After a one-week suspense and amid fears that the planned poll automation will not push through, the good news is that the problem has been resolved,†Melo told a press conference immediately after presiding over the meeting.
As proof of their sincerity, Melo said officials of Smartmatic and TIM signed in his presence and that of the other Comelec commissioners the joint venture incorporation documents which are to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
He explained these documents are needed before the Comelec could award the contract, equivalent to about $200 million, to Smartmatic and TIM to provide the machines needed for the computerization of the 2010 polls.
Moreover, the Comelec requires such documents to pinpoint responsibility if the planned poll automation does not push through, according to Melo.
Once the documents are filed, Melo also said the Comelec would then award the contract to Smartmatic and TIM anytime next week as recommended by the agency’s special bids and awards committee which was set up to conduct the bidding.
The two partners won the public bidding over six other business consortia to supply Comelec with about 82,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines for the planned automation in next year’s elections.
Melo gave the two partners until Friday to resolve their differences with the warning that if they failed to do so their officials could be liable for criminal charges, including a penalty of a maximum jail term of 15 years.
On Monday, businessman Jose Mari Antunez, the president of TIM, suddenly informed Melo that his company was backing out from the project, citing “irreconcilable differences†with and “loss of trust†in Smartmatic.
It turned out, however, that the quarrel was caused by disagreement over the “control of money,†Melo disclosed.
As the deal began to unravel, there were talks that lawyer Jose Miguel “Mike†Arroyo, the controversial husband of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was involved in the aborted partnership between Smartmatic and TIM.
The deal became even more controversial when Congressman Teodoro Locsin Jr. of suburban Makati City, Metro Manila revealed that partnership broke up when Smartmatic allegedly rejected the demand of TIM’s Antunez that he be given $10 million in exchange for his signing the incorporation documents.
Malacanang, through Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, denied the alleged involvement of Jose Miguel, saying this was part of the intrigues sown by certain quarters to destroy the name and credibility of the President and the immediate members of her family.
Before Melo announced that Smartmatic and TIM have already settled their differences, a Comelec spokesman disclosed that the agency started making preparations for manual voting in 2010.
A vital part of such preparation, the spokesman said, would be a revamp of regional, provincial, city and municipal election officials to assure the people are confident about the official running their elections in 2010.
The revamp also aims to prevent local politicians from exerting their influence on election officers, the spokesman pointed out.
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