Fishy deal

EDITORIAL

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07/02/2009

From the Smartmatic side, claims were made to the effect that Total Information Management (TIM), the Barbadoes company’s partner in the automated poll project, sought a P500 million upfront money to settle the differences between the partners and from there, proceed with the poll automation.

From the side of the TIM, claims were made to the effect that Smartmatic wanted total control of the project and full powers in the disbursement of the money should a dispute or issues arise between the partners.

It was also said that a very powerful person, with the “highest political connections” entered into the consortium picture as a non-financial partner, was seen at a coffee shop with a Smartmatic official. It is also already known that a well-known presidential crony is also a partner of sorts in the automation project. A call from the crony days later to TIM was reportedly placed, warning TIM to cooperate with Smartmatic over its conditions since powerful people are offended.

Earlier, during the Senate hearing, it was already established that a presidential crony is involved in the automated project in the matter of the warehousing of the machines and the distribution of the hubs and sub-hubs.

Between the two sides’ allegations, which is the more credible?

A demand for half a billion upfront money from Smartmatic, whether said as a joke or not, just doesn’t fly, because more can be made from the project if this pushes through. It is possible, however, that this claim perhaps was made by the Smartmatic people only after realizing that the coffee shop meeting between Smartmatic and the powerful person who wants to be a partner in poll automation, had been discovered.

It is also much too strange that Smartmatic insists on having sole judgment and decision to sign checks in instances where disputes between the two partners arise. Just what would the dispute be? The under the table payments to the powerful person with the highest political connections are to be disbursed by this powerful person? The share of profits to TIM? The monies in the hundreds of millions being stashed in a Barbados bank account?

It doesn’t make sense in a partnership, for one partner to insist on having sole discretion and the power of unilateral decision to sign checks when disputes arise, along with the insistence of Smartmatic to have total control of the automation project, as this would leave TIM with absolutely no control over anything in the automation process, save for TIM’s part in putting up its share of the money for the project.

Smartmatic will be controlling everything, the financial and the technical aspects in the counting and canvassing software and hardware, including transmission configuration and system integration.

With this powerful “silent” partner in bed with Smartmatic and the presidential crony, what guarantee do the Filipino people have that the automated polls will not be rigged?

And what business does the Commission on Elections have in acting as referee in a squabble between the two partners engaged in a private business? Why does Comelec insist on resolving the problems between the partners? And just what is being offered and guaranteed by the Comelec to the partners, for them to get together again in the poll automation project? Downpayment in the billions to fund the purchase of the Taiwan-manufactured machines? Why does the Comelec insist on getting Smartmatic to automate the polls, to the extent of studying the feasibility of the poll body becoming Smartmatic’s partner in the poll automation project? Why is Comelec bending over backwards too much for Smartmatic? It has been giving this firm too many extensions and defending Smartmatic to the hilt so much so that suspicions have arisen.

The Comelec, as well as the poll watchdogs are giving the Filipino people a lot of bull when they claim that only automation can prevent electoral fraud. It may even be worse than the fraud committed in manual elections, since this would be fraud on a high-tech level.

They want a quick count? Comelec can have it even if it goes on a manual vote mode. It is more or less accepted that the voting and counting at the precinct level are fairly clean, since the voters stay on for the count and notice whatever errors are made in the count. It is always in the municipal and provincial levels that massive fraud count is involved, and inordinately delayed. The count from these levels can then be done through automation, and the time to know the winners wouldn’t take a month.

What’s in it for Malacañang, Smartmatic and the Comelec to get this Smartmatic deal going?

Unless these questions are not answered satisfactorily, a dark cloud of doubt will always mark the 2010 polls.

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