Comelec asks NBI, resident ombudsman to probe YouTube video

MANILA, Philippines - Despite the Commission on Elections (Comelec) doubts on a video showing supposed irregularities in the bidding for the automation of 2010 polls, it has ordered for an investigation on the matter. Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said Friday that he has asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the resident ombudsman to do the investigation. He made the announcement to reassure the public that the poll body is not hiding anything about the bidding process for the computers that would be used for the automated polls on May 10, 2010. “Pinaimbestiga na natin sa NBI at (resident) ombudsman. Immediately maski ano, para walang suspicion [We asked the NBI and Ombudsman to investigate it immediately, so there will be no suspicion]. Let the NBI and the resident ombudsman investigate it," Melo said in an interview on dwIZ radio. He said the Comelec has started checking the documents of the bidders, noting that each bidder has six folders. “Kung may isiningit… sa anim na folders.... Nonetheless ang ginawa namin ni-refer namin agad sa resident ombudsman ng Comelec at sa NBI for investigation," he said. [If the “hastily-signed" documents were inserted on the last minute, they would have to be inserted in all six folders of each bidder. We have referred this to the resident ombudsman and the NBI for investigation.] The 26-second video, which was posted on video sharing site YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-1O2cPveCM), was the subject of a Manila-based newspaper’s banner story on Thursday. The newspaper story claimed the video showed bidder F.F. Cruz signed documents inside a comfort room of the Comelec office in Manila, while Special Bids and Awards Committee head Ferdinand Rafanan was waiting outside. Cruz is one of seven bidders for the polls automation machines. The full title of the video was “F.F. Cruz Signing Bid Docs in Comelec’s Bathroom (while Rafanan waits) - May 6, 2010 - 5:29 pm." “Hindi natin alam kailan nakuha o ano napirmahan o kung bid document. (Still), it’s not a very good indication sa ibang bidder na may pinipirmahan [We don’t know what papers they were signed in that video. Still, it’s not a very good indication that bidders are signing something]," Melo said. Melo voiced suspicions on the video, which he said may have been taken by a cellular phone camera, and might have been the work of another bidder’s camp. He also said there was no clear identification of those in the video, though he said one of them was a “kamukha (look-alike)" of Cruz. Rafanan was not even in the video, he added. - GMANews.TV