The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday refuted squarely the two crucial points raised in the petition filed by a group of lawyers and private individuals led by University of the Philippines (UP) law professor Harry Roque last July 9, 2009 asking the Supreme Court to declare null and void the P7.2 billion contract it signed with Smartmatic TIM Corp. (STC) on July 10, 2009 for the automation of the May 10, 2010 presidential, congressional, local and party-list polls.

The refutation was contained in the comments filed by Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera on behalf of the Comelec pursuant to the High Court’s order last July 29 after the oral arguments on the petition of Roque and his group giving the parties in the controversy 15 days within which to file their comments or memoranda on the case.

The 15-day period ended yesterday, August 13.

Devanadera’s memoranda were filed after extensive consultation with Comelec officials, particularly with Law Department Director Ferdinand T. Rafanan who was the chairman of the Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) that conducted the public bidding for the poll automation project.

On the point raised in the petition that Comelec violated Republic Act 9369 or the Election Automation Law for failing to conduct any pilot testing of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines covered by the contract, the Solicitor General’s memoranda said neither RA 8434 nor RA 9369 uses the term “Pilot Test” or “Pilot Testing” but “Pilot Exercise.”

The machine, technology and system have been previously tested during the bidding and during the preparation in the run-up to the election, the memorandum pointed out.

“On election days, the Comelec will not test anymore but will simply use the previously tested machine, technology and system. Smartmatic TIM machines have demonstrated capability and been successfully used in prior elections abroad, specifically in United States, Canada, and Venezuela.’’