MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Smartmatic, the firm that has a contract with the Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) to electronically manage vote tallies in the May 9 national elections, has denied having anything to do with cash registers at 7-Eleven stores in the country.

The denial came just hours after netizens have complained being cheated out of their choice for Bongbong Marcos for president.

7-Eleven stores have launched ”SpeakCup” whereby customers purchasing sodas or coffee can choose the cup bearing the name and image of their preferred presidential candidates.

It is a poll of sorts where the stores will tally how many cups of each of the presidential candidates have been chosen by customers.

Already, netizens have taken to their social media accounts to complain and post photos of their 7-Eleven receipts indicating they have chosen a Leni Robredo cup even if they have actually picked up a Bongbong Marcos cup.

Smartmatic has been involved in controversies in the last presidential elections where it has been alleged that its computers and systems have been designed to favor one candidate over another.

The Adobo Chronicles tried to reach 7-Eleven Philippines CEO Jose Victor Paterno, but we ran out of data on our mobile phones.