Photokina files two P100-M libel suits vs Comelec chief

The consortium that was awarded the Voters’ Registration and Identification System (VRIS) project has filed two P100-million libel suits against Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Alfredo Benipayo in connection with the aborted plan to automate the country’s electoral process.

Photokina Marketing Corp. filed the twin complaints with the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office last April 9 after Benipayo allegedly made malicious statements against the firm and its foreign partners in two separate incidents.

Statements made by the Comelec chief during a speech at a university forum and a television interview had accused the consortium of wrongdoing, Photokina said in its complaint.

Benipayo’s statements were subsequently published in the country’s major newspapers.

The P6.5-billion VRIS provides a comprehensive and integrated solution for voter registration including the development and maintenance of a secure electoral database that would serve as the foundation for clean and honest elections.

The Photokina consortium was awarded the project two years ago following one of the most exhaustive and highly technical bidding procedures ever conducted by the Comelec. It bested the field by garnering the highest technical score and submitting the lowest price, outbidding its closest rival by more than P500 million.

Based on the charge sheets, Benipayo told a Jan. 31 forum sponsored by the University of the Philippines that there was an attempt "to hoodwink" the country into signing a contract that was grossly disadvantageous to the government.

The Comelec chief said the party involved was "offending common sense" when it claimed the VRIS project "would be worth P6.5 billion."

"While there was no express reference to (Photokina) as the party trying to hoodwink the Comelec, there is no doubt that (Photokina) was the entity being referred to by Mr. Benipayo in connection with the latter’s attack on the VRIS project," Photokina said.

Photokina had earlier accused the Comelec of stalling negotiations for formalizing the VRIS implementation, citing several acts attributed to Benipayo that showed he already shelved the project.

Last February, a Quezon City court ordered the Comelec to immediately resume contract negotiations for the stalled VRIS, recognizing that the continued refusal of the Comelec to implement the VRIS had already caused Photokina to suffer substantial financial losses. The prohibitory injunction prevented Benipayo from developing an alternative to VRIS.

"As can be seen, it is very clear... that Mr. Benipayo had earlier criticized the VRIS project and its award to (Photokina)... there is no doubt that Mr. Benipayo was aware of the fact that the public knew that the VRIS project was awarded to (Photokina). Obviously, the subject speech was only part of his systematic, persistent but baseless attacks against (Photokina)," the complainant firm said.

In the second complaint, Photokina described as "false, malicious and defamatory" Benipayo’s statements during a discussion of the VRIS in the TV talk show Point Blank.

In the show aired over ANC 21 last March 13, Benipayo allegedly claimed that Photokina funds were being used for a smear campaign against him.

The Comelec chief had made mention of a letter sent to him by the charge d’ affairs of the US Embassy last year, inquiring about the status of the VRIS as well as expressing concern over the more than $2.4 million spent for the preparatory stages of the project.

The VRIS Project Team is made up of Photokina and several foreign firms specializing in security imaging, including US-based IBM.

During the talk show, Benipayo said the US official refused to tell him where the money was spent. The Comelec chief later suggested that it may have been used for "pretty obvious" expenses, which Photokina said was an insinuation that the funds were being used for a smear campaign.

"The statements of Chairman Benipayo are highly libelous, offensive and derogatory to Photokina’s good reputation and business standing, and in effect exposed it to dishonor, discredit and public hatred, contempt and ridicule," the company said.

Benipayo declined to comment on the complaints, saying he would do so in a more appropriate time.