Comelec chief links disqualified poll service provider to allegations against him

COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) chairman George Garcia said on Thursday, August 8, 2024, that Smartmatic, the agency’s disqualified service poll provider, could be behind the "demolition job" against him.

In a press conference, Garcia maintaithat he does not have any offshore accounts, despite claims by Sagip party-list Representative Rodante Marcoleta that the service provider for the upcoming 2025 midterm elections deposited alleged grease money into such accounts.

He presented an e-mail from the Cayman National Bank and Scotia Bank, which both replied that there is no account under their respective systems under the name George Erwin Mojica Garcia.

Garcia noted that in order to open an account in the said banks, the applicant should visit the branch in person.

He presented his travel history from the Bureau of Immigration from January 2020 up to the present, which indicates that he only traveled to Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Garcia maintained that he had never been to the Cayman Islands nor did he have a visa in order to get there.

Earlier, Marcoleta presented copies of bank transfer receipts identifying “George Erwin Mojica Garcia” as the owner of the Cayman Islands accounts.

Garcia said that the accounts where the money was deposited were recently opened, noting that an online bank transfer will still go through even if the account name is incorrect, as long as the account number is correct.

He also presented several documents showing that a certain Jaleo Consulting LLC  made the bank transfer to the accounts being linked to him.

Garcia said the firm was owned by Jose A. Herrera who also serves as a director of the Albatross Technologies Corporation which shares the same address with Smartmatic in the US -- No. 26 Pine Road, Belleville, St. Michael in Barbados.

He said Herrera also served as a legal counsel for Smartmatic and was the father-in-law of one of the founders and owners of the service provider.

“Sana po masagot ang katanungan kong ito… coincidence lang ba ‘yan? Sana maipaliwanag sa atin. Isa lang ang conclusion natin kapag ganyan, pero ayaw kong akong ang gumawa ng konklusyon,” said Garcia.

(I hope this question of mine gets answered… Is it just a coincidence? I hope it can be explained to us. We can only draw one conclusion in such cases, but I don’t want to be the one to make that conclusion.)

“This is a direct intervention sa election ng Pilipinas ng isang foreign entity. Bawal na bawal po ‘yan,” he said.

Garcia said he sent a letter to the US Department of Justice to investigate the matter, which may be a violation of the US’ anti-money laundering law and may be considered as bank fraud and identity theft. 

He also sought the assistance of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Senate President Francis Escudero, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, tagging the malicious allegations of foreign intervention against him as a threat to the country’s democracy.

“Sana po huwag tayong papaya na ang atin pong mga opisina, mga institusyon ay magamit upang maghasik ng mga kasinungalingan, magbintang sa mga tao at manira ng puri ng iba,” said Garcia.

(I hope we do not allow our offices and institutions to be used to spread falsehoods, make accusations against people, and damage the reputations of others.)

“Ako po’y nakikiusap na sana po’y ‘yung mga tao na ang mga adbokasiya raw nila ang maglantad ng anomalya sa pamahalaan, na mapapatunayan naman po palang hindi, ay hindi mapayagan na magamit po ang kamilang mga institusyon,” he added.

(I am appealing that those people whose advocacy is supposedly to expose anomalies in the government, but which can be proven to be false, should not be allowed to use their institutions for this purpose.)

In November 2023, the Comelec disqualified Smartmatic-TIM Corporation and Smartmatic Philippines, Inc. from participating in the bidding for the automated election system (AES) for the upcoming 2025 midterm elections due to allegations of bribery against former Comelec Chairperson Andy Bautista, who was accused of accepting grease money in exchange for a contract for election machines.

In April, the Supreme Court said the Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion when it disqualified Smartmatic from the bidding.

The Comelec said Smartmatic may again participate in the bidding for AES for the next election.

In a statement, Smartmatic denied Garcia’s allegations.

"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," Smartmatic 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. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)