MANILA, Philippines–Filipino technicians are capable of repairing the 82,000 voting machines for the 2016 elections but a deal for repair work was awarded to Smartmatic, a foreign company, civil society leaders said on Thursday.
But retired Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. defended the contract as a good deal that now covers repair and replacement of “irreparable machines” at a much-reduced cost.
“It’s no rocket science. PCOS (precinct count optical scan) is composed of a PC (personal computer), printer and scanner. There are many who can do this. Filipino technicians can do this,” Gus Lagman told a joint congressional inquiry into the automated election system (AES).
Even Comelec’s own technicians can do the repair, said Lagman, a former Comelec commissioner and convenor of Transparent Elections.
He also scoffed at acting Comelec Chair Christian Robert Lim’s argument that repair by a third party may lead to possible patent infringement issues.
“Even with cars—cars are composed of many parts, many of them covered with patents. If my car breaks down, I can go to any shop. I can do the repairs myself. By the way, the local partner of Smartmatic does third-party maintenance,” he said.
At one point, Brillantes demanded: “Can Mr. Lagman tell us three names [of technicians offering the same price]?”
Lagman shot back: “I can send you a list.”
The Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the AES resumed its hearing on Thursday amid public furor over the Comelec’s “midnight deal” with Smartmatic-Total Information Management Corp.
The Comelec inked the contract on Jan. 30, days before Brillantes and two commissioners retired on Feb. 2.
The election watchdog Automated Election System Watch has petitioned the Supreme Court to nullify the negotiated contract, arguing that it ignored the requirement of competitive bidding.
Brillantes told the oversight committee that the contract had since been expanded to cover major repairs and replacement of nonrepairable parts from the original diagnostics and minor repairs of PCOS machines.
Up to 4 percent of the 82,000 PCOS machines, or 3,280, could be replaced at a cost of P70,000 each, he said.
“So, if we are going to replace 3,000 machines, assuming that these are nonrepairable anymore, that would cost already P210 million … (T)his is part of the contract. So P240 million is not really that high because of the expanded coverage, which we negotiated,” Brillantes said.
From the original P300 million, the cost has been reduced to P240 million, excluding value-added tax, said the former Comelec chief said.
Not overnight deal
“My analysis now of this new contract, which we negotiated with Smartmatic is such that now with the P240 million we might be able to dispense even with the next stage of P900 million. So, the P1.2 billion that was the original contract, original proposal of Smartmatic is actually down already to less than P300 million,” Brillantes added.
Contrary to claims the deal was forged overnight, Lim said negotiations with Smartmatic for the repair of the PCOS machines began in October last year.
Lim cited several reasons the body voted to go into negotiated contract with Smartmatic: issue of timelines, “great risk” of contracting it to a third-party, sufficient grounds for direct contracting under the Government Procurement Reform Act and the issue of proprietary rights.
He said it would have taken 88 calendar days to complete the bidding if there was no failed bidding. The body could not do the bidding earlier because the fund for this was included in the 2015 national budget.
“There is a copyright as well as a patent for dominion voting systems. Smartmatic as the licensee of dominion voting systems is under obligation to protect the proprietary information on this intellectual property,” Lim said when asked by Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga on the possible violation of proprietary rights.
“There might be some infringement violations. As for the Comelec, if we were the ones to do it, we are granted the right to do that. But if we allow a third party, especially if it’s a competitor, there might be infringement issues,” he added.
‘Big business deal’
Evita Jimenez, executive director of the Center for People Empowerment in Governance, said the contract smacked of a “big business” deal.
“I’d like to congratulate Smartmatic for clinching the contract. I know this is business. Elections in the Philippines have become big business. Billions of pesos are being paid in exchange for a contract. This time no sweat, no bidding,” she told the committee chaired by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III and Western Samar Rep. Mel Sarmiento.