Commission on Elections (COMELEC) chairman Andres Bautista. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
FOLLOWING an uproar particularly on social media, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has decided to scrap its planned purchase of P26-million worth of bib vests to be worn as uniforms by poll workers on election day.
“It will be the DepEd (Department of Education) uniform the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) will be wearing during the May 9 elections and the Comelec will provide IDs for them,” Comelec Chair Andres Bautista said in an interview.
BEIs are mostly teachers of the public schools which are used as polling precincts.
Bautista admitted the decision to abandon the bib plan was “prompted by observations we got from the public.”
“Well, we have always been open with respect to public opinion,” he said. “But I just want to be clear about the purpose.”
“We just wanted some sense of professionalism. It’s different when there is a uniform or a brand for an individual with respect to performing a very important public duty, which is safeguarding the elections.”
“We just needed some kind of uniform to be able to do that. I think the DepEd uniform together with a Comelec ID will serve the purpose,” Bautista added.
Before the plan was canceled, the Comelec was looking at purchasing 354,053 bib vests printed with the PiliPinas logo and the initials “BEI” in front and the words “Comelec” and “Board of Election Inspector” at the back.
The bid contract price was set at P26,553,975, or P75 apiece.
But while the bib vests won’t be purchased, Bautista said the Comelec will push through with its procurement of 6,158 collared shirts for its employees at a bid contract price of P1,231,600, or P200 per shirt.
Apart from netizens on social media, four of the seven Comelec commissioners had themselves urged the poll agency to reconsider the purchase of the bibs.
Commissioners Arthur Lim, Christian Robert Lim, Tito Lui Guia and Rowena Guanzon had opposed using bib vests as uniforms for BEIs.
Guanzon wrote the en banc on April 4th: “I urge you, my colleagues in the en banc, to think about your decision to purchase uniforms for the BEIs. Perhaps a big identification card will serve the same purpose of identifying who the BEIs are instead of spending so much public funds for what, to my mind, is not necessary.”
In an April 5 letter to the Comelec en banc, Arthur Lim said: “I am reconsidering my vote for the procurement of T-shirt uniforms for BEIs and Comelec personnel. Reasons to be given upon my return from Hong Kong.”
Christian Lim and Guia wrote: “The Comelec decision was generally met with negative reactions. Initially, the criticism was heavy in the social media. Thereafter, even the mainstream media came out with its critique of the procurement.”