A company which has ran the country's automated elections since 2010 has been disqualified by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The Comelec en banc ruled to disqualify and disallow Smartmatic from "any public bidding process for elections".

In a press conference on Thursday, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said they stand firm on their resolution barring Smartmatic in their poll automation projects.

He said the Commission is confident that they have enough legal basis to disqualify Smartmatic in the exercise of their administrative mandate.

"When you say plenary power, that is very vast. Even the Supreme Court (SC) agreed that the power is vast and that the hands of the Comelec (are) not tied," pointed the former election lawyer.

"How do you define election matter? All cases, not necessarily disqualification, pre proclamation, etc... election matter cases. Therefore, we can exercise quasi-judicial function and administrative function," added Garcia.

As to Smartmatic's claim of the decision being premature without an indictment in the United States against the company, Commissioner Ernesto Maceda said the Comelec acted within its powers to protect the integrity of the Philippine electoral system.

"There's an imminent threat. It erodes the confidence. It tends to affect the credibility. And we believe that if it's the credibility of the elections, purely of the elections, at stake, even the Supreme Court has recognized in several cases, the hands of the Comelec must not be tied," he said.

This is the first time that a company has been barred by the Comelec from participating in the poll automation project. DMS