Who owns Smartmatic-TIM? (tags)
With barely two weeks left before the May 10 elections, the question, “Who owns Smartmatic-TIM?” keeps popping up in a lot of people’s minds. Suddenly, the prospect of an “electronic Garci” cheating operation is creating apprehension that the country is on the brink of another people power or martial law… or, God forbid, civil war! A few days ago, I got a call from a fellow Filipino-American journalist who said that a powerful man has the “source code” of the Precinct Count Optical Scanner (PCOS) machines that will be used for the first time in May 10 elections. I followed the trail of the information and talked to a Filipino international lawyer who has done some research on the question of the “ownership” of Smartmatic-TIM. The following is his response: