Mendoza said she flew here to personally congratulate Filipinos for their successful conduct of the first nationwide automated elections last month.
“I’m very excited to be here. I want to congratulate you guys for the election. I think it was amazing. Also, I’m here to support Smartmatic’s [advocacy for] transparency,” she told ABS-CBN News in an interview shortly after her arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
She is scheduled to go around Metro Manila during her stay here, and she hopes to meet President-elect Benigno Aquino III.
“I’m trying to get President-elect Aquino to have an appointment with me. Maybe, we can have lunch or coffee. I would love to meet him,” she said, adding:
“Please just take a little bit of your time - I know you’re super busy to say 'hi' to me. Now that I’m in the Philippines. I'd love to meet you.”
She will also be introduced to Gloria Diaz (1969 Miss Universe) and Margie Moran (1973 Miss Universe). Smartmatic President for Asia-Pacific Cesar Flores said Mendoza will “collaborate with some organizations that the 2 [Filipino] beauty queens promote in the Philippines."
Since it is her first time to visit the country, Mendoza said she is excited to learn about Filipino culture. “Trying the food, it’s going to be my first time.…We’re planning to enjoy the Philippines.”
She will be accompanied by Smartmatic officials during her tour of the country.
'Gesture of appreciation'
Flores said Smartmatic invited Mendoza to the Philippines “as a gesture of appreciation to the people of the Philippines.”
“She’s being very active in different advocacies so we thought she is the right person to be our ambassador of goodwill, and to congratulate the people of the Philippines for such clean, successful and fast elections,” he said.
Election machine provider Smartmatic provided more than 76,000 vote-counting machines for the country's national elections this year.
Various groups, however, had alleged that the compact flash cards used in the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines were pre-loaded with votes to favor certain local and national candidates.
Smartmatic, whose headquarters is located in Venezuela, has tapped Mendoza to help in “its advocacy for transparency in the electoral process."
Mendoza is set to meet with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and various government and non-government groups. She will also spearhead the donation of laptops to selected communities.
The company said Mendoza will not clear Smartmatic of the various allegations raised against the company.
It will understandably be important for Smartmatic to clear its name in the Philippines because it's targeting to bag the automation contract of a neighboring country.
It's setting its eyes on Indonesia, which will hold its next national elections in 2014. Indonesia is one of the most populous countries in the world.
Source: ABS-CBN
