source: Bantay Halalan
IS THERE A CAYETANO-SMARTMATIC “UNHOLY†ALLIANCE?
In the past few days, Senator Allan Peter Cayetano has been “crying out loud†in his interviews that the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has favored a bidder in the printing of ballots for the mid-year 2013 Elections. He even went as far as personally attacking the Poll Body Chief, Atty. Sixto Brilliantes by bringing up the names of the Commissioner’s clients prior to his appointment.
“Nobility of intentions cannot sugarcoat the obvious ulterior motive surfacing in this perceived orchestrated move.â€
Senator Cayetano wants to create the impression to the public that COMELEC is not doing its job; that it should have not in the first place granted the P780-million printing contract to an allegedly favored bidder, Holy Family Printing and Canon joint venture.
As clearly pointed out by Commissioner Brilliantes, the COMELEC en banc discussed the bidding of the ballot printing contract and in a 4-2 vote resolved to hand it over to the National Printing Office (NPO).
The timing and manner by which Senator Cayetano brought the matter during the budget hearing in the Senate is highly suspicious. When asked by Commissioner Brilliantes if his source is the losing bidders, he was too quick on his toes to answer, "I don't care about losing bidders. I don't care who gives me materials."
If this response of Senator Cayetano is true, why is it that in one of his interviews he verily admitted that his source is SMARTMATIC – one of the losing bidders for ballot printing? Excerpts of said interview are as follows:
“Reporter: Sir, sinasabi na pumapanig kayo sa mga losing bidder na nadisqualify.
Senator Cayetano: 'Yung sa warehouse, sa Smartmatic pala iyon. I don't care kung sino ang suppliers, I don't care kung sino ang manalo, at wala akong financial or whatever interest. I just want to make sure that we get the best quality and the cheapest price. And more than that, siguraduhing hindi masira 'yung automation.
Paulit-ulit sila na ang information ay galing sa losing bidder. Eh bago umabot sa akin nasa internet at nasa news na. Natural, noong nabasa ko sa news, tinawagan ko 'yung pinanggalingan. Smartmatic iyon. Pero wala akong tinatago doon at hindi ko sinasabing sila dapat ang manalo. Ang gusto kong malaman ay kung totoo ba ang allegations. xxx†(emphasis and underscoring supplied) Source:
http://www.ugnayan.com/ph/gov/Senate/article/2N32 This declaration clearly contradicts that he does not care about the losing bidders and who gives him the materials. Every Juan Dela Cruz, confronted with this fact, could obviously see that the noise being created by Senator Cayetano is aimed at favoring a losing bidder. The apparent purpose of which is to mount pressure on COMELEC, particularly to Commissioner Brilliantes to eventually grant the ballot printing to the bidder, who is in the best position to use the machines it has sold, SMARTMATIC.
Guided by these circumstances, one could verily and intelligently surmise that Senator Cayetano has formed an “unholy†alliance with SMARTMATIC.
What is the catch? What is to gain? We could think of many answers. But, as they say, Money isn’t everything but it truly makes the world go round.
“Any change is resisted because bureaucrats have a vested interest in the chaos in which they exist.â€
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