MANILA, Philippines?The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday denied entering into an ?anomalous transaction? with the National Printing Office (NPO) that would have overpriced the ballots used in the recently concluded Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) elections.

Press Secretary Jesus Dureza told reporters on Wednesday that he foiled an attempt to overprice by P30 million the cost of printing the ballots for the automated ARMM elections.

Comelec Chair Jose Melo took umbrage when he read yesterday?s news report, saying it appeared that Dureza had ?discovered? the anomaly.

Melo said there was an attempt to charge the Comelec a steep price for the printing of 1,283,900 ballots but ?from the very start, we backed off.?

He said he found the NPO?s initial quote of P32.47 per ballot too expensive because the ballots used in the 2007 elections only cost the Comelec around P2 each.

According to Comelec documents, the NPO initially gave a quote of P32.47 per ballot for a total cost of P41.68 million.

In a letter to the Comelec on June 27, NPO officer in charge Marietta De Guzman said the P41 million included additional equipment and security markings.

Melo said the NPO lowered its price to P27.18, which he still found too steep, so he asked private printing firms to submit quotations.

The submitted prices ranged from P3.89 to P4.36 per ballot or less than P6 million for the printing, he said.

When notified by the Comelec that it could not afford their price, the NPO reduced its price to P4.50 per ballot in a letter to the poll body on July 14.

?That?s the time they lowered it,? Melo said. The Comelec accepted the NPO?s offer because it was close to the price quoted by private firms. Kristine L. Alave