Group seeks to prevent Smartmatic execs from leaving RP sans clearance

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has been asked to place officials of Smartmatic — the poll machine supplier — on a watchlist that would prevent them from leaving the country without the agency’s clearance. Filed by Pinoy Marka Ko, a group affiliated with Liberal Party bets Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas, the petition also asked the DOJ — through the Bureau of Immigration — to prevent them from leaving the country altogether once a criminal case is filed against them. Among the executives that should be placed in a watchlist, according to the petition, include Alberto Castro, project director; Ruliena Marisela Pinate, project manager; Heider Garcia, electoral systems manager; Hecber Cordova, technology manager; Angel Diaz, telecom manager; Arquimedes Machado, operations manager; Miguel Botto, technology assistant; Salvador Sosa, telecom consultant; and Ely Alvarado, canvassing/consolidating coordinator. The petition would ensure that Smartmatic’s officers, whether Filipino or foreign, would fulfill their promise to implement nationwide automated elections on Monday, Leander Marquez, the group’s convenor said. The upcoming national election is a matter of national security and it is only prudent to act in favor of this petition, Marquez said. “The HDO will ensure that the Smartmatic officials will be held responsible for any disruptions, related to the irregularities in the performance of the precinct count optical scans (PCOS) machines that may come upon in the May 10 elections," the group said in its petition to DOJ. However, before the hold-departure order (HDO) is issued, a legitimate complaint must be filed against them in court. But placing them on a watchlist can only be done by the Justice Secretary. For his part, Justice Secretary Alberto Agra said he will meet with immigration officials before the elections to discuss the petition. Earlier, another group — the Concerned Citizens Movement — expressed intentions of filing criminal charges against Smartmatic officials as well as the Comelec should the May 10 polls fail due to defective PCOS machines. Chaired by lawyer Harry Roque, the CCM has also sought manual voting, counting, and canvassing of ballots to ensure credible elections after the Comelec recalled 76,000 compact flash cards after field tests done on Monday revealed glitches. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV