Comelec exec dares critics to public forum on VRIS

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Luzviminda Tancangco challenged yesterday former and current officials of the poll body as well as leaders in the private sector to a discussion on the alleged irregularities in the Photokina contract for the Voter’s Registration and Identification System (VRIS).

Tancangco said she was ready to face former Comelec chairwoman Harriet Demetriou, former commissioner Teresita Flores, incumbent Chairman Alfredo Benipayo, Commissioner Resurreccion Borra, National Citizens Movement for Free Elections chairman Jose Concepcion and Makati Business Club head Guillermo Luz and other critics of the modernization program she helped conceptualize.

Tancangco, who had headed the Comelec’s modernization committee, welcomed a public discussion for the transparency of the controversial VRIS contract which was awarded to the Photokina consortium last year.

Demetriou earlier dared Tancangco to a public discussion to resolve the alleged irregularities in the bidding and awarding of the contract.

"I accept her challenge to have a public discussion and settle this once and for all," Tancangco said.

She pointed out that a venue and date should immediately be set for the open discussion so that the public would be enlightened as to how the contract was awarded.

The Photokina consortium was awarded the P1.2-billion project following one of the most exhaustive and highly technical bidding procedures ever conducted by the Comelec. It bested the field by garnering the highest technical score and, submitting the lowest price, outbid its closest rival by more than P500 million.

However, Demetriou, prior to the end of her term in January, canceled the project because it allegedly incorporated an additional P700 million for its implementation.

Another issue raised by Demetriou against the consortium was the alleged failure and refusal of the National Computer Center (NCC) to issue a certification on the technical soundness of the VRIS project as required by law.

Tancangco clarified that the NCC had not issued a waiver of a submission of an evaluation report, which Demetriou had claimed as invalid.

She said the NCC had no reason not to issue a certification, in accordance with the government’s policy of transparency.

The Comelec official explained that they still requested NCC representatives for transparency in the evaluation of Photokina’s bid documents.

"We wanted the NCC’s expertise to formulate the proposal even if we are not covered by it, so there’s no waiver," she said.

Tancangco said Benipayo should be ready to discuss the scrapping of the VRIS and other components of the Comelec modernization program.

Essentially, VRIS provides a comprehensive and integrated solution for voter registration including the development and maintenance of a secure electoral database that would serve as the foundation for clean and honest elections.

Inherent in the approach to voter database cleansing is the use of a sophisticated Automated Fingerprint Identification System technology that ensures the uniqueness of each voter’s record.