Poll deal leaves Comelec ‘sad’

Not purchasing 70,977 units

The Comelec on Friday said it was not inclined to purchase the new OMR units it is set to lease for the 2016 polls.

In its Comelec Resolution No. 9980, the Comelec en banc said the lease of the 70,977 OMR units excludes the “option to purchase” clause present in the original terms of reference.

This means that the project won by Smartmatic-TIM will be only for the lease of the 70,977 OMR machines for P6.286 billion.

The “option to purchase” clause costs another P1.576 billion in the Smartmatic-TIM bid.

The June 29 Comelec en banc resolution for the lease project of 23,000 OMR units does not have such a provision.

According to Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez, such a move by the en banc was logical.

“You have to remember that the 23,000 OMR units will be used regardless if it is the old PCOS machines or the new OMR units. So the Comelec certainly is looking at the possibility of acquiring them in the future. On the other hand, the 70,977 may not be purchased since the commission intends to repair the PCOS machines for the 2019 elections,” said Jimenez in an interview.

“Immediately after the conduct of the 2016 elections and within the same calendar year, the commission shall conduct a public bidding for the maintenance, refurbishment and/or upgrade of the existing PCOS machines for use in the 2019 elections,” the Comelec resolution said.

After leasing these in the 2010 polls, the 81,896 PCOS machines were subsequently purchased by the poll body from Smartmatic-TIM for P1.8 billion prior to the 2013 polls.

Losing bidder

The Comelec earlier announced that the old 81,896 PCOS machines will still be refurbished, and that the poll body intends to use the units in 2019.

Dermalog-Avante-Stone of David Joint Venture, the disqualified bidder for the refurbishment of the PCOS machines, expressed disappointment over what it described as the monopoly prevailing in the country’s automation election system.

“I don’t know how the Philippines feels about it. But monopoly, in normal life, means I have to pay more and I get less service and less quality. That is normally the consequence of monopoly for sure,” said Dermalog Identification Systems CEO Gunther Mull.

Smartmatic, which also provided the PCOS machines used in the 2010 and 2013 polls, will also supply all the 93,977 OMR machines for next year’s elections.

“I think, for sure, the vendor in this position is trying to monopolize. And I think it’s quite obvious… maybe the Comelec would also appreciate in the future to have more choices. Because a monopoly means it’s more expensive and less service,” Mull added.

Dermalog-Avante-Stone of David said it was unfortunate that it was not given the chance to refurbish the old PCOS machines, stressing that they have the expertise and capability to do the task.

Dermalog-Avante-Stone of David was the lone bidder in the second round of bidding for the refurbishment of the PCOS machines.

2nd failed bidding

However, the Comelec special bids and awards committee declared the joint venture ineligible after it submitted incomplete samples of election paraphernalia and spare parts and a lack of specifications on its personnel services.

The second failed bidding eventually became a factor in the Comelec’s decision to just lease all new OMR units from Smartmatic-TIM.

But Dermalog-Avante-Stone of David said they had no plans of challenging the decision.

“We will accept any decision of the Comelec. We will not do what some other competitors in our market do—to go to court. We won’t do that,” said Mull.

He said the joint venture was looking ahead at the planned refurbishment of the PCOS machines after the 2016 polls.

“We are not looking only at this (2016) elections. We are also looking at the future and see how we can establish our presence here and contribute to the elections,” said Mull.

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