COMELEC TO PROBE ‘ANOMALY’ IN BIDDING OF 2016 AES

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday announced the creation of a task force that will investigate allegations of “corruption and irregularities’ in the bidding of the 2016 automated election system (AES) project.

The task force will consist of 12 members who were selected based on their credibility and knowledge of the bidding process.

Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia had issued a memorandum to the departments related to the bidding to provide the necessary documents, contracts and papers related to the purchase of AES in 2016.

“We want to know the root cause of this. Are the accusations true? What are the pieces of evidence in the hands of America? Who are the other people involved in this issue?” said Garcia on the sidelines of the signing of the a memorandum of agreement between the poll body and the Public Attorneys Office (PAO) to strengthen vote-buying cases.

The investigation is related to the money laundering case filed by the United States Department of Homeland Security against former Comelec chairman Andres Bautista.

Based on the report, Bautista allegedly placed bribes from senior officials of an unspecified technology service provider firm into US accounts.

Bautista chaired the Comelec from April 2015 to October 2017.

According to Garcia, the purpose of the task force is to unmask those involved in corruption and irregularities, even if the are still connected with the Comelec.

The task force is expected to finish its probe before the year ends.