Miru Systems president Chung Jin Bok during the P18-billion contract signing between Comelec and Miru Systems Co. Ltd. for lease of an automated election system to be used in the 2025 national and local midterm elections. —Inquirer file photo/Richard A. Reyes
MANILA, Philippines — The country’s new automated election service provider, Miru Systems Co. Ltd, has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the National Printing Office (NPO) for the 73 million ballots to be used in next year’s midterm polls.
According to the agreement signed on Thursday at the Comelec central office in Manila, the NPO will be using brand new machines lent by Miru, which uses the latest technology from industry leader, HP.
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In a statement, Miru said P1.6 billion from its existing bundled contract as the official election provider for the 2025 elections has been allocated to the printing of 73 million ballots, which will begin in the second week of December.
“We are very honored and privileged to work with the NPO. No matter how good our devices are, we won’t be able to meet our goal of delivering this important part of the project without the ballots,” said Ken Cho, vice president for overseas sales of Miru.
NPO director Renato Acosta said the signing of the tripartite agreement was “part of our collective [determination] to provide a safe, secure and readily available for the following elections.”
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For his part, Comelec Chair George Garcia noted the importance of meeting the tight deadlines set for filing of candidacies and submission of election peripherals.
“We have to come together because we have a short time left,” Garcia said.
Garcia said each ballot has a as visible Comelec watermark, a QR code and a secret marking that only he and Acosta know about.
Every ballot will also be “print-specific,” meaning it cannot be read if fed to an automated counting machine in another voting precinct.