MANILA -- Despite the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) evaluation of the joint venture of South Korean firm Miru Systems Company Limited, several questions remain about the “disturbing” contract, according to Deputy Minority Leader Senator Risa Hontiveros.

In her privilege speech on Monday, Hontiveros expressed concern on the award of the biggest automated elections contract to Miru which has an approved budget of P18.827 billion.

READ: Miru bags P18.8-B project for May 2025 elections

The poll body awarded the contract on February 22 with the joint venture offering a bid amount of P17.9 billion. Under this, Miru and its three Filipino partner companies will supply the hardware, software, and election management system for the midterm elections.

For Hontiveros, alleged irregularities on elections in Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo under Miru’s watch must be taken into consideration.

“In Congo, researchers reportedly found that the machines Miru tried to sell there were repackaged equipment originally intended for Argentina, where similar machines faced pushback. Ang tawag nga sa Congo ng mga election machines doon ay ‘cheating machines,’” Hontiveros said.

(In Congo, researchers reportedly found that the machines Miru tried to sell there were repackaged equipment originally intended for Argentina, where similar machines faced pushback. The machines there were called ‘cheating machines.’)

“In Iraq, a 2018 Reuters report found that Miru’s machines were ‘at the heart of fraud allegations that led to a manual recount in some areas after the May 12 election,’” she added. 

Comelec has previously said they relied on a certification from Congo’s Electoral Management Board which said the elections went well, and a statement from the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, which mentioned the same. 

Hontiveros also questioned the capability and credibility of a Filipino company that is part of the joint venture—Saint Timothy Construction Corporation.

“Just what is a construction company doing leasing voting machines to the Filipino people? A construction company that appears to share principal office address of another Company – St. Gerrard Construction General Contractor & Development Corporation – blacklisted by the Department of Public Works & Highways,” Hontiveros stated.

Another thing that has to be clarified is whether the automated counting machine (ACM) of the joint venture is merely a prototype, which goes against Republic Act 8436 or the Automated Election Law.

Hontiveros cited Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo’s previous statement that the ACM is “a customized machine which has not yet been produced”.

Another issue that she raised was the lack of bidders.

It can be recalled that aside from the joint venture, Dominion Voting Systems, Indra Philippines, Inc., AMA Group Holdings Corp., and Smartmatic also purchased bidding documents, but only Miru submitted a bid.

Smartmatic’s bid was not accepted since it has been disqualified by the poll body for allegations of bribery.

Thus, Hontiveros raised the idea of a bid suppression: “Bid suppression means that bidders other than the designated winner do not submit bids, or are prevented from doing so. Some quarters are asking: is this what happened here?”

It might be time, according to Hontiveros, to revisit the procurement process to prevent manipulation.

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