📋 Tender Overview
The Supreme Court has directed the respondents Commission on Elections (COMELEC) En Banc and the Joint Venture of Miru Systems Co. Ltd., Integrated Computer Systems, St. Timothy Construction Corporation and Centerpoint Solutions Technologies, Inc. (The Joint Venture) to file a Comment on the Petition and Application for Temporary Restraining Order and/or Writ of Preliminary Injunction filed by former representative of the second district of Caloocan City, Edgar R. Erice (Erice).
On April 18, 2024, former Congressman Erice filed a Petition for Certiorari under Rule 65 of the Rules of the Court with Prayer for the Issuance of an Ex Parte Temporary Restraining Order and/or Writ of Preliminary Injunction against the COMELEC and The Joint Venture. The Joint Venture, led by South Korean firm Miru Systems Co. Ltd., secured the 2025 election contract worth PHP 17,988,878,226.55 (P17.9 billion) last February 21, 2024, following a unanimous vote by the COMELEC En Banc, leading to the issuance of the En Banc Minute Resolution No. 24-0114 (Minute Resolution).
The Petition preliminarily seeks to enjoin the COMELEC from executing its Minute Resolution, which awards the P17.9 billion contract for the Full Automation System with Transparency Audit Count (FASTrAC) Project for the 2025 National and Local Elections (NLE) to The Joint Venture as the sole bidder. Ultimately, the Petition prays that the Minute Resolution, the Notice of Award, and the Contract Agreement between the COMELEC and The Joint Venture be declared null and void, and to enjoin the implementation of any further contract that may have been entered between the COMELEC and the Joint Venture and all other issuances issued subsequent to the assailed Minute Resolution.
This Petition comes at the heels of G.R. No. 270564 (Smartmatic TIM Corporation and Smartmatic Philippines, Inc. v. Commission on Elections En Banc, Eliseo Mijares Rio, Jr., Augusto Cadeliña Lagman, Franklin Fayloga Ysaac, and Leonardo Olivera Odoño) where the Court reversed the COMELEC Resolution disqualifying Smartmatic from participating in the public bidding for the 2025 NLE. While the Court in this case ruled that the COMELEC En Banc implemented a discretionary pre-qualification regime that amounts to grave abuse of discretion, or lack or excess of jurisdiction, and that Smartmatic was thusly wrongly disqualified, the Court cited considerations of equity, justice, and practicality, as well as the doctrine of operative fact, to hold that its findings will not affect the 2025 NLE.
The Supreme Court Public Information Office will upload a copy of the ruling in G.R. No. 272887 (Erice v. Commission on Elections En Banc, et al., May 21, 2024) once it receives the same from the Office of the Clerk of Court En Banc.
