By Perfecto T. Raymundo
MANILA, Sept. 14 (PNA) — Two overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on Monday asked the Supreme Court (SC) to stop the Commission on Election (COMELEC) from enforcing a resolution that allows Smartmatic TIM to lease 71,000 units of Optical Mark Reader (OMR) for use in the May national and local elections.
In their 41-page petition, Francisco Aguilar, Jr. and Guillermo Santos urged the SC to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) or writ of preliminary injunction (WPI) to stop the COMELEC from implementing COMELEC Resolution No. 9980.
COMELEC Resolution No. 9980 provides for the award of more than Php 6-billion contract in a joint venture agreement with Smartmatic TIM for the lease of the OMR units.
The petitioners claimed the lease of the new OMR was illegal because the old Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines were still available, which could be updated in order to be used in the 2016 elections. (PNA)