Members of the DepEd Lecturers Union maintain a press convention Thursday morning. Screengrab from the group’s Fb video
MANILA, Philippines — The Division of Schooling Lecturers Union (DTU) on Thursday referred to as the federal government for the removing of the voting machine supplier Smartmatic to make sure honest elections within the Philippines, citing previous voting incidents from the supplier.
The lecturers group urged the federal government to make sure that election programs are “totally practical and safe.”
“The Union requires the erasure of Smartmatic because the nation’s ballot service supplier, guaranteeing that lecturers can perform their election duties successfully and securely,” mentioned DTU in an announcement.
DTU recalled the mishaps public lecturers encountered throughout the 2022 elections reminiscent of dysfunctional vote counting machines (VCMs) that brought on delays amongst voters.
“Previous experiences with Smartmatic’s VCMs have raised vital considerations, notably throughout the 2022 elections the place over 1,800 machines malfunctioned, affecting roughly 1.1 million voters. These points not solely brought on delays but in addition undermined public confidence within the electoral course of,” DTU added.
READ: Defective VCMs: Greater than only a hiccup in 2022 polls
The Fee on Elections (Comelec) introduced in Could 2022 that the nationwide and native elections in that yr noticed the quickest transmission of voting for the reason that nation shifted to computerized voting, regardless of reviews of voters who waited for hours to solid their votes as a result of malfunctioning of the VCMs.
Smartmatic was Comelec’s former supplier of vote-counting machines because the ballot physique disqualified the corporate from collaborating within the bidding for the 2025 midterm automated elections – “to protect the integrity of the electoral course of,” in accordance with Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia in November 2023.
Additional, DTU mentioned that the latest indictment of a U.S jury in opposition to former Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista and Smartmatic executives for bribery and cash laundering within the 2016 elections casts doubts on their credibility and integrity as an election service supplier for the nation.
Based on the U.S Justice Division, a sure Roger Martinez, a Venezuelan citizen and Florida resident who occurred to be a co-founder of Smartmatic and Jorge Vasquez and others “brought on not less than $1 million in bribes to be paid to Bautista.
READ: Ex-Comelec chief Andy Bautista dealing with US bribery expenses
DTU additionally underscored the position of the general public college lecturers in serving as election staff and upholding impartiality for democratic electoral course of.
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“DTU encourages all lecturers, election staff, and the general public to stay vigilant because the sanctity of our democratic course of is dependent upon every of us,” mentioned DTU.
