Comelec withholds P90M payment to Smartmatic over data breach allegations

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is withholding a P90-million payment to its automated elections technology provider, Smartmatic, due to an alleged data breach.

Comelec Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan stated that the payment will be released once Smartmatic is proven innocent of the data leakage.

The poll body is awaiting the findings of the National Bureau of Investigation's (NBI) probe before deciding on actions regarding its contract with Smartmatic.

These actions could include possible sanctions against the firm for any contract violations, termination of the contract, blacklisting, forfeiture of its performance security, and pursuing damages and criminal cases.

The incident was reportedly caused by a Smartmatic employee who shared credentials to an unknown third person.