IN a move of far-reaching consequences to the way we conduct our elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has barred Smartmatic, the Venezuelan election provider, from participating in any future Philippine election. This is an unquestionable victory for our right and duty to conduct our own elections without the intervention of a foreign election provider. Unless a differently minded court intervenes and reverses this decision, we should now be able to put up a genuinely Philippine automated electoral system.
Smartmatic has been providing us with election services since 2010, when Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino 3rd ran for president upon the death of his mother Cory who had served as president from 1986 to 1998. He had an anemic public record as a senator and presidential aspirant, but an unreported private dinner with Lord Mark Malloch Brown bolstered his self-confidence about the election. Malloch Brown, a close associate of George Soros, was Smartmatic's international chairman; but before that, he was Cory Aquino's public relations adviser during her unsuccessful run against President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
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