MANILA, Philippines?Sour graping. That?s how the chair of the Commission on Elections, Jose Melo, described the Senate probe into the winning bidder to automate the 2010 elections.

Melo raised on Tuesday the possibility that the losing bidders were goading lawmakers to question the Smartmatic-Total Information Management Corp. contract, saying they were ?sour graping.?

He identified the companies as Avante International, AMA Group of Companies and Sequoia Voting Systems.

?These people are giving some information to raise doubts. I?m not saying it?s happening, but it could be,? Melo said.

Formal complaint urged

These bidders, Melo noted, have sent letters to the commission, raising doubts on the bidding process, the ownership of Smartmatic, its eligibility and the capability of the voting machines.

These concerns, he said, were echoed by some senators in Tuesday?s hearing.

Melo challenged the losing bidders to file a formal suit with the commission en banc.

Under the bid contract, bidders who want to appeal must deposit a bond of P112 million to the Comelec, which amounts to 1 percent of the project?s price of P11.2 billion.

Melo said the Comelec was willing to listen to the concerns and suggestions of the senators, but drew the line at allowing them to review the deal.

?It is not their job. We are an independent constitutional commission. They can only suggest,? he said.

Aboitiz firm not an issue

Melo also downplayed concerns by Sen. Francis Escudero about allowing a company with political ties to President Macapagal-Arroyo to handle and transport of the voting machines.

Melo said the inclusion of the Aboitiz firm in the consortium was ?not an issue? as he sought to allay fears that the equipment could be tampered with on its way to the precincts.

He said the machines? system was secure and that the Board of Election Inspectors would check the machines for clues of tampering before the opening of voting hours.

Smartmatic officials have begun to feel ?nervous? about potential delays, Melo said, noting that this could affect election preparations.

Malacañang unfazed

Malacañang is unfazed by doubts senators have raised over the credibility and ability of Smartmatic, a Barbados-based consortium, to conduct the first fully automated national and local elections in the Philippines next year.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita yesterday said that Melo had assured him that the Comelec had ?back-up? plans to ensure that the 2010 elections would push through.

?We are almost 11 months away from the elections and we are confident that the Comelec will be able to handle the situation,? Ermita said in a media forum.

Signing tomorrow

?We wish the automated elections will happen because that will help us. It can be very well part of the election reform.?

Ermita saw no problem with the Senate scrutinizing Smartmatic with the signing of the P7.4-billion poll automation contract set for tomorrow.

The consortium is to supply the Comelec with 82,200 counting machines, which could purportedly produce results in two days.

?It?s within the right of the Senate to undertake that investigation,? Ermita said. ?It?s in our interest that these things are done in the proper manner. Let?s just wait for the final outcome of the investigation.?

Senators raised questions in Tuesday?s hearing about Smartmatic?s subcontracting plan for its ?hubs? to the forward firm 2Go?not ?To Go? as previously reported. 2Go is owned by the Aboitizes, who are closely associated with the First Family.

Undercapitalized

The senators also found out that the Barbados firm?s capitalization was only P1.5 billion, which was way lower than its winning P7.4-billion bid. The company also supposedly had no office in the Philippines.

Whatever happened with the Senate inquiry into Smartmatic, Ermita said, the outcome would not necessarily paralyze the planned automated elections.

He said he had been told that the Comelec had ?several thousands? of machines in reserve.

?I?m sure that in our original procedure for elections, the Comelec had measures,? Ermita said. ?But (we will not go to) the extent that we cannot undertake the elections come 2010.?