LOST IN TRANSLATION The Commission on Elections’ special bids and awards committee for the 2025 automated election system declares a South Korean consortium’s disqualification because one of its supporting documents was not accompanied by an English translation. —VIDEOGRAB FROM COMELEC/FACEBOOK
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said the first round of public bidding for the P18.8-billion contract for a new electronic voting system failed due to deficient documents from the lone bidder.
A consortium, led by the South Korean company Miru Systems Co. Ltd., was declared ineligible by the Comelec special bids and awards committee (SBAC) “for failure to comply fully with the legal requirements for eligibility to bid under Republic Act 9184,” or the Government Procurement Reform Act.
In its report released on Thursday night, the SBAC said Miru Systems Co.’s statement of its single largest completed contract lacked an English translation of the supporting documents.
The SBAC also called out the “incomplete” undertaking to enter into a joint venture by Miru Systems Co. and three Filipino companies, namely Integrated Computer Systems, St. Timothy Construction Corp., and Centerpoint Solutions Technologies Inc.
Second round of bidding
SBAC vice chair and Comelec spokesperson Rex Laudiangco said they would immediately call for a second round of bidding and set the opening of bids on Jan. 4.
“Time is of the essence that’s why we finished today the mandatory review of the bid documents,” he said.
To be used in the 2025 midterm elections, the new voting system will replace the vote counting machines technology provided by Smartmatic Philippines since the Philippines shifted to automated elections in 2010.
According to its website, Miru Systems Co. Ltd. was established in 1999.
Outside of South Korea, the company has supplied its electronic voting system to elections in Kyrgyzstan, Ecuador, Iraq, and Congo.
Smartmatic bid rejected
Smartmatic Philippines and its partner, Total Information Management 2016 Inc., also submitted bid documents on Thursday but these were rejected by the special bids and awards committee.
Smartmatic did not get a temporary restraining order in time from the Supreme Court to stop the Comelec from enforcing its Nov. 29 resolution disqualifying the UK-based company from all election-related projects.
Five out of the seven Comelec commissioners voted to ban Smartmatic from future public bidding based on the reported indictment in the United States of former election chairperson Andres Bautista in connection with a contract awarded to Smartmatic in 2016.
READ: Smartmatic: Comelec basis for DQ ruling ‘nonexistent’