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FF Cruz, Rafanan caught on YouTube fixing deal

05/14/2009

Caught in the illegal act. FF Cruz, identified with Gilat, an Israeli bidder in automation, has been recorded on video and shown on YouTube rushing to sign documents in the comfort room of the Commission on Elections during the recent procedures for the automated election system for 2010, while Comelec official in the bidding process, Ferdinand Rafanan, gave him three hours to find the missing bid documents and publicly waited for a representative of Gilat-FF Cruz to show up.

These and more show that a lot of laws are allegedly being violated and are about to be violated by the Comelec, one of which is the Comelec’s announced deadline for candidates, national and local, to file their certificates of candidacy (CoC) by Nov. 30, this year.

“Comelec is not empowered by the Constitution to set a deadline for the filing of the certificate of candidacy. It is Congress that sets the date, not the Comelec,” a high ranking congressman told the Tribune yesterday. “What the Comelec is doing (in setting an earlier deadline) is in clear violation of Republic Act 8436, or the automation law, which has already set the date of the last filing of the candidates’ certificate “Melo should be aware of the fact that the law has not vested him and his commissioners to reset the deadline for the filing, for whatever reason. Only Congress has the power to do so, through an amendment of the law, or craft a special law,” the congressman, a lawyer and constitutionalist, who asked not to be identified, pointed out.

He also asked why to this date, the Comelec has not issued a resolution effecting a resetting of the filing of CoC deadline, with the poll body chairman simply announcing the advancing of the deadline filing date.

The congressman suspects that the resolution is deliberately not being issued or made public by the Comelec because the commissioners are hard pressed to state under what law, or premse and the basis of the poll body’s resetting of the deadline for the filing of the certificates of candidacy of the election bets.

“It is either that, or that the Commissioners are delaying the issuance of the resolution to forestall anyone from bringing up this issue before the Supreme Court—until it is too late,” the congressional source pointed out, in an interview.

He added that the Comelec is also not allowed by law to refuse acceptance of any and all certificates of candidacies filed.

The Comelec’s acceptance of the certificate of canvass is ministerial. This is so stated in Republic Act 7166, Section 76.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, for his part, also said that the Comelec has no authority to conduct partial automation of the 2010 national elections. This was in response to poll Chairman Melo’s statement the other day that, with the disqualification of all the seven companies shortlisted for the automated machines and system bidding, the poll body may opt for a second bidding but merely on partial automation, with plans of holding automated polls in urban areas.

”Partial automation is not allowed (under the law). They (Comelec) are not authorized (to conduct partial automation). The authority given to them is full automation. If they cannot do full automation, they must say so and prepare for a manual election,” Enrile said.

He added that he had “directed a warning to the members of the Comelec present to see to it and be certain that the automation will work. If they have any doubt, I call on them to prepare for a manual election,” Enrile said.

The same sentiment was aired by Namfrel and PPCRV chairman Tita de Villa, who pointed out that if no company meets the requirements of the Comelec on automated polls, the Comelec may as well conduct manual elections, rather than go on a hybrid—which would be partial automation.

Enrile urged the Comelec to determine as soon as possible whether there are no qualified people to handle the computerization of the elections.

”They must make a proclamation to that effect to the public convincingly and prepare for a manual election. We cannot afford not to have any election,” Enrile said.

Two days earlier, Melo was quoted as saying that the poll body was running out of time after the seven shortlisted firms were disqualified and said that a negotiated contract would create more problems and would go into partial automation.

But there is however, reportedly a YouTube video making the rounds where one bidder, FF Cruz, said to be aligned with an Israeli firm, was filmed filing up some documents in a rush in a comfort room, allegedly in the Comelec premises, to complete the documentation, which had something to do with a tax declaration.

At the same time, AMA, Smartmatci and the Israel-FF Cruz combine have reportedly been cleared by the Comelec for bidding purposes.

A source told the Tribune that with that YouTube video, and on the basis of the late submission, these bids can be invalidated, and a Temporary Restraining Order can be asked from the Supreme Court, which will delay the bidding some more.

There will be no option but for Comelec to conduct manual elections for the 2010 polls.

If the poll automation of the 2010 election fails, Enrile also reminded the Comelec that it cannot use the P11.3 billion budget which Congress had earlier allotted for the election computerization, through a special law.

”They can only use so much that is needed for a manual election. They cannot spend the amount,” Enrile said.

The veteran lawmaker brushed aside the ‘no election’ fear in 2010.

”There will be chaos in this country if there is no election in 2010, unless we amend the Constitution and we adopt another system of government or installing authority in this country,” he said.

”If we maintain the present the Constitution and we have no election in 2010, imagine a country without a President, without a Vice-President, without a Senate, without a Congress, without governors and mayors to run their local government. This is chaos. This is going to be anarchy,” Enrile warned.

Sen. Loren Legarda for her part, supported a plan by the Comelec to hold a second poll automation bidding.

The senator said that the Comelec plan initiated by Chairman Melo would be the right thing to do since the automation of the 2010 elections is mandated by Republic Act 9369 or the Poll Automation Law.

NCO with additional report from PNA

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