Preparations for the 2004 automated elections should have started after the 2001 elections but the change of administration, the growing budget deficit, and the delay in the ratification by Congress of the budget all contributed to the stalled preparations.
By the time the government had assured Comelec of the P3-billion budget for poll modernization, the commission had little time left to work on it, the source said on condition of anonymity.
The funds for the election modernization program were released only in 2003. "We were already falling behind schedule so we had to do things fast," the source said.
The idea of a nationwide computerized count had been bandied about as early as the 1998 elections, but this was shelved in the wake of President Joseph Estrada’s ouster in 2001 and the ballooning deficit in 2002.
Comelec commissioners also hoped to jumpstart preparations for the 2004 elections, which would have been the first automated polls in the country’s history, by giving Chairman Benjamin Abalos the discretion to pick the winning bidder based on an oral report by the Comelec’s bids and awards committee (BAC).
The BAC written report recommending the winning bidder was submitted a week after the poll body awarded the contract to MPC, but the source insisted the award was legal even if the report was late.
The late submission of the BAC report made the contract’s legality questionable.
The source added that the BAC made a verbal recommendation to the commissioners prior to the awarding of the contract, based on the test results and evaluation of bids made by MPC and Total Information Management.
There was nothing irregular about the contract award being sandwiched between an oral recommendation and a formal written report, since these were not contradictory, the source added.
The STAR obtained a copy of Comelec resolution dated April 15, 2003, which cited a memorandum issued by Commissioner Mehol Sadain stating that the BAC had yet to submit its written report at the time the resolution awarding the contract to MPC was issued.
"With regard to automated counting machines award of the contract, undersigned (Sadain) would have preferred to register his vote. However, the BAC report which is the basis for the award has not yet been submitted to the commissioners as of this writing," the resolution stated.
Sadain also told the other commissioners that "in case of a vote, he will be voting on the basis of the results of the first test participated by both bidders as called for under the terms of the bid."
Abalos and Commissioners Sadain, Luzviminda Tancangco, Rufino Javier, Ralph Lantion, Resurreccion Borra and Florentino Tuason Jr. signed the April 15 resolution.
The same resolution also mentioned that Abalos was given the authority to award the poll automation contract in a resolution issued last March 27.
"However, considering the present discussion, with the members of the BAC in attendance and recommending award of the project to Mega Pacific, the chairman (had) the matter passed upon by the commission," it said.
The BAC was headed by Comelec finance service department chief Eduardo Mejos with Gideon de Guzman, Jose Balbuena, Lamberto Llamas and Bartolome Sinocruz as members. Mejos is the former finance chief of the Metro Manila Development Authority, and Abalos brought him in when he was appointed Comelec chairman.
Last Jan. 13, the Supreme Court (SC) nullified the P1.249-billion contract that the Comelec awarded to MPC.
Voting 9-3-2, the SC ruled that "though the Philippines needs an automated electoral process, it cannot accept just any system shoved into its bosom through improper and illegal methods."
Prohibiting the Comelec from implementing any other contract on automated ballot counting machines, the tribunal forced the Comelec to revert to the slow manual vote count that has often resulted in fraud and violence in the past.
Abalos said that while the Comelec is preparing a motion for reconsideration to be filed sometime this week, there will be no more time to fully automate the country’s fraud-plagued electoral system.
"We will just have selective (automation) because we have no more time for national implementation," he said.
President Arroyo said there was the possibility of implementing the joint congressional resolution calling for selective automation where only 20 percent of the country would have automated elections.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision in its favor, petitioner Information Technology Foundation of the Philippines (ITFP) said it is now considering filing corruption charges against the seven Comelec commissioners.
In granting ITFP’s petition to nullify the contract, the SC also directed the Ombudsman to determine if Comelec officials involved in the contract can be criminally charged.
The tribunal also ordered the Office of the Solicitor General to find out how the government can recover the P849,167,697.41 the Comelec had already paid the supplier for 1,973 counting machines.
The SC said the Comelec not only gravely abused its discretion in awarding the contract "but also put at risk the holding of credible and peaceful elections by shoddily accepting electronic hardware and software that admittedly failed to pass legally mandated technical requirements."
The SC assailed the Comelec for awarding the contract to MPC which did not participate in the bidding in the first place.
The SC noted the poll body officials signed the actual automation contract with Mega Pacific eSolutions, Inc., a company that is merely part of the consortium and which joined the bidding but had not met the eligibility requirements.
What furthered dismayed the SC was Comelec Commissioner Borra’s admission that the software now being used was just a "demo" version and that the actual version is still being developed although the contract was signed last year.
The tribunal pointed out the counting machines, as well as the canvassing system, will never work properly without the correct software programs.
The SC also said certifications from the Department of Science and Technology failed to divulge how the tests were conducted and whether the machines were indeed reliable.
The court said the Comelec should have been more prudent and judicious in ensuring the delivery of tried and tested software and readied alternative courses of action in case of failure.