MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Elections said Friday it has formed a special bids and awards committee for the automation project of the 2013 midterm polls.
The SBAC will be chaired by Helen Aguila-Flores, deputy executive director for administration of Comelec, with lawyer Jubil Surmieda, Comelec-National Capital Region director, as vice chair.
The members are Eden Bolo, Norma Galutera and lawyer John Rex Laudianco of the information technology, finance services and law departments, respectively.
The Comelec SBAC will be tasked to conduct the bidding for the automated election technology and other related peripherals and services in next year’s elections.
The poll body, in a resolution dated February 7, set the bidding period for March to June 4 this year.
The commission scheduled the publication of the invitation to bid on March 7, the submission and opening of bids on April 2, the issuance of the notice of award on May 8, and the approval and signing of the contract on June 4.
The Comelec gave Congress a P7-billion budget for automation for this year. The Comelec Advisory Council recently chose the optical mark recording voting technology, the same used in the 2010 polls.
On May 13, 2013, voters will be casting ballots for 12 senators, district and party-list congressmen and executive and legislative officials of local governments, including the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.