SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta (Facebook)

SAGIP Party-List Rep. Rodante Marcoleta has warned of a violation to Republic Act (RA) No. 9369 or the Automated Election Law if the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will allow Miru to use its "two-systems-in-one" to collect and count votes in the May 2025 mid-term polls 

This, as Marcoleta prodded his House colleagues Tuesday, May 7 to continue the inquiry on the alleged irregularities in the P18-billion automated vote-counting contract between the poll body and the controversial South Korean firm. 

Before Tuesday's meeting of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms adjourned, Marcoleta recalled that the Supreme Court (SC) nullified last month the Comelec's resolution disqualifying Smartmatic from the bidding for next year's automated elections supplier. 

Smartmatic had been the automated machines and services provider during elections held between 2010 and 2022. Miru was awarded the contract for next year. 

"The [SC] nullified the [Comelec] resolution because it was committed with grave abuse of discretion. Yet, the bidding was not nullified -- so there's inconsistency," Marcoleta pointed out. 

The Comelec had been defending the awarded contract to Miru together with its similarly controversial local partners. The poll body had even warned of election preparation delays if they reneged on the deal. 

"Smartmatic was disqualified even before it was able to submit its bid; even the legal requirements were not considered. So there's a violation" on the part of the Comelec, the SAGIP Party-list solon noted. 

"The [SC] used the doctrine of operative fact, which will only apply if there is good faith. So the Comelec should establish that there is good faith," explained Marcoleta, a lawyer. 

However, he pointed to the House committee's own minutes showing that their previous meetings highlighted the many controversies surrounding Miru and the other members of its consortium. 

Members of the House panel had been wary about the failures of automated elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Iraq, and other countries where Miru had taken part. Marcoleta cited the report from Reuters last March as a testament to this. 

Marcoleta expressed his concern as well regarding reports that Miru plans to use a combination of Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) and Optical Mark Reader (OMR) automated counting machines. 

This so-called two-systems-in-one that Miru wants to roll out for the 2025 polls has never been used elsewhere in the world, underscored Marcoleta. 

"Under our Automated Election Law, Miru has to first prove that this hybrid system has been tested in other jurisdictions. To my recollection, reports showed that Miru had used these two systems, but separately," he said. 

"So if we will allow Miru to apply the two systems (in-one) without showing that this has been tested anywhere, there will be a clear violation of the Automated Election Law," Marcoleta warned. 

"The DRE system was utilized in Congo, where 45 percent of the voting stations encountered so many problems. Meanwhile, OMR was utilized in Iraq, where 70 percent of voting stations also met certain difficulties, technical and otherwise. But the combination between the two systems has not been tried nor tested anywhere, in any jurisdiction," he noted. 

As such, Marcoleta said Miru's plan to tap both DRE and OMR machines in next year's elections is "a very important matter that will also, or must also be addressed by the committee in the most urgent time".