Comelec's Garcia links Smartmatic to alleged 'demolition job'

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Erwin Garcia said Thursday poll service provider Smartmatic could be behind the alleged demolition job against the poll body. 

Garcia presented to the media documents showing that a certain Jaleo Consulting LLC — owned by a Jose A. Herrera — made the deposits to his alleged offshore bank accounts in the Cayman Islands, which Rep. Rodante Marcoleta earlier claimed to have received money from South Korean banks. 

The poll chief said a research on Herrera’s identity online showed he was the director of Albatross Technologies Corporation, which shared the address of Smartmatic in the US. Garcia also said Herrera served as the legal counsel for Smartmatic and was the father-in-law of one of the owners of the service provider.

“Bakit ba ang address sa Barbados…ng company na sinasabi ko ay parehas sa address ng dati nating provider? Coincidence lang ba 'yan?” Garcia asked 

(Why does the address in Barbados...of this company is similar to the address of our former provider? Is this a coincidence?)

Smartmatic

Smartmatic denied Garcia’s accusations, describing them as “both unfair and unjust”. 

"Our company is not involved nor is behind any of the claims made by Chairman Garcia against us. Such accusations are both unfair and unjust," it said.

“Our focus solely remains in prioritizing our legal efforts on the case filed in the Supreme Court of the Philippines. Any suggestion to the contrary is baseless and mere speculation,” it added. 

Foreign intervention

Garcia said he already sent a letter to the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to report and request an investigation into the incident. He also said that the use of  his name and the alleged adding of a social security number on the “tampered” bank history is a violation of US’ anti-money laundering law and may be considered as bank fraud and identity theft. 

“This is a direct intervention sa election ng Pilipinas ng isang foreign entity. Bawal na bawal po ‘yan,” the poll chief added. 

(This is a direct intervention on the country’s elections by a foreign entity. This should not be allowed.)

He called on Congress and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to help address the alleged “foreign intervention.”

“Sana matulungan tayo na ‘yung mga ganitong tao, entities ay 'di makapayagpag sa ating lipunan. Ito ay isang banta sa ating demokrasya. Ang pangingialam ng isang foreign entity sa ating halalan,” he said. 

(We hope they can help us so these kinds of people and entities will no longer flourish in our society. Foreign intervention in elections is a threat to our democracy.)

“Sana ‘yung panawagan na ‘yung kanilang institusyon ay huwag sanang magamit bilang kanlungan ng mga hindi tapat na tao,” said Garcia. 

(I hope Congress will not be used as a home to dishonest people.)

Last week, Marcoleta linked Garcia anew to two offshore bank accounts in the Cayman Islands which allegedly received deposits from South Korean banks.

Marcoleta said that he and his team were able to verify that the two offshore accounts belonged to Garcia by depositing money and asking for a bank receipt, which allegedly yielded the latter's name.

But Garcia questioned the transaction, saying some individuals successfully deposited money to the alleged bank accounts under Marcoleta’s name. 

He also said the Scotiabank and Cayman National Bank denied there were any bank accounts under his name in their system. All six Korean banks likewise said they have no records of remittances in the alleged bank account being linked to the bribery accusations. 

Garcia sent a copy of the documents he presented to the US DOJ and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Ethics complaint

Asked if he would pursue an ethics complaint against Marcoleta, Garcia answered in the affirmative but said he would still wait for the result of the NBI investigation. 

“Pag lumabas na 'yung sa NBI. Ang findings ng isang ahensya ng pamahalaan tulad ng NBI ay credible, mapagkakatiwalaan at produkto ng pinagsama-samang imbestigasyon ng lahat ng mga dokumento at testimonya. ’Pag ginamit ko na ang NBI at AMLC investigation, mabigat ‘yun kahit sang korte o kapulungan pa tayo makarating,” said Garcia. 

(We’ll file the complaint once the NBI releases its findings. The findings of a government agency like NBI is credible, trustworthy and a product of the joint investigation with the documents and testimonies. Once I use the NBI and AMLC investigation, that would be substantial and can be used in any court in the country.)

In a separate interview, Marcoleta insisted that Garcia has yet to prove that the P17 billion automated election contract awarded to South Korean firm-led joint venture Miru for the conduct of the 2025 polls is above board, saying Miru’s technology is yet to be used in any prior election.

“There is a diversion happening there. Before the offshore accounts, there’s the awarding of the contract to Miru. Is Miru compliant with our procurement system? Are Miru election machines compliant? Because if you consider the Automated Election law, it says the system and the machines that must be procured by Comelec must have demonstrated capability, and must have been successfully used in prior electoral exercises here and abroad,” he said.

“Based on the terms of reference of Comelec, the minimum requirement is the combined application of two technologies,  direct-recording electronic (DRE) machine and optical mark reader (OMR) machine. That's why they call it a hybrid machine. When was this combination of two technologies ever used? Why is the Comelec avoiding to answer this question?” he added.

Likewise, Marcoleta stood by his previous statements that Garcia is the owner of offshore bank accounts which received deposits from South Korean firms.

“Those transaction records were obtained through our volunteers. They're conclusive. Ngayon, kung sasabihin niya, they're not conclusive, then let's compare. The only neutral agency that can do this [comparison] is the NBI,” he said..

“He should show documents proving that what I have are fake, and the pronouncement should be made by the NBI, not just statements from him that these are fake,” he added.—with reports from Llanesca T. Panti/AOL, GMA Integrated News