Comelec chief ready to face graft raps before Ombudsman

By Ferdinand Patinio, Philippine News Agency

In an online interview Tuesday, Garcia said the move is already expected. (File Photo: COMELEC/Facebook)

MANILA – Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairperson George Erwin Garcia said he is ready to face the graft complaint filed against him by former Caloocan representative Edgar Erice before the Office of the Ombudsman.

In an online interview Tuesday, Garcia said the move is already expected.

“Buti nga may ganyan, at least hindi po tayo nama-marites or may disinformation na kumakalat. At least dito sa Ombudsman… nage-expect tayo na patas na proseso (It is good that we have this, at least, we are not falling prey to gossip or disinformation. At least here at the Ombudsman, we expect a fair process),” he said.

Garcia noted that the filing of the case “somehow” diverts the attention from the ongoing investigation by the commission on the missing millions of pesos worth of funds during the 2016 polls and the case filed by the US Department of Justice against former poll body chief Andres Bautista and some Smartmatic officials.

“Wala na pong bago dyan. Again, haharapin natin ang kaso tutal nasa Office of the Ombudsman na. Maganda yan, at least legal na proseso at hindi produkto ng marites (There is nothing new about it. Again, we would face the case as it is now with the Office of the Ombudsman. It is good that it is a legal process and not a product of gossip), misinformation, disinformation,” he added.

On Tuesday, Erice filed a graft complaint against Garcia and Comelec Bids and Awards Committee members for violating Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corruption Practices Act.

Erice claimed that the poll body officials erred in awarding the PHP18 billion contract to South Korean firm Miru Systems for the Full Automation System with Transparency Audit/Count (FASTrAC) project for the 2025 midterm polls.

He said the Comelec should not have entered into a new contract, noting that it can reuse the vote-counting machines from Smartmatic.

Smartmatic, a Venezuela-based company, was the service provider of the poll body from the 2010 until the 2022 polls.