Comelec also probing bribery rap vs Smartmatic, Bautista

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has launched a parallel investigation of the multimillion-peso bribery case involving its former chief, Andres Bautista, and Smartmatic, the firm that provided voting machines for the 2016 elections.

In an interview on ANC on Monday, Comelec Chair George Garcia said that while closely monitoring Bautista’s trial in the United States, the poll body would also conduct its own investigation “to find out who among our people were in connivance in that conspiracy in 2016.”

The US Department of Justice, in a news statement released on Aug. 8, said Bautista allegedly received at least $1 million in bribes from three executives of Smartmatic between 2015 and 2018.

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