Comelec eyes early purchase of materials for barangay polls

MANILA, Philippines - All the necessary election materials for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls in October are expected to be purchased this month.

Commission on Elections Commissioner Christian Robert Lim said the poll body is starting early with preparations and expects to complete the bidding process for the purchase of election materials before the end of August.

“By September, hopefully, we will just be checking on the deliveries, then we can start deployment by October,” he said.

The last barangay and SK election was marred by delays in the delivery of election supplies, including ballots to polling precincts.

Some election materials even arrived at noon of election day despite the Comelec’s decision to contract forwarding companies.

The poll body made an investigation to identify the reasons behind the delay and found negligence on the part of those responsible for allocation and specification; notice to proceed; bidding; printing; verification; packing, and shipping departments.

Lim said to prevent similar problems in the October elections, they would start the preparations early.

“We are starting early and we are letting everybody know about it,” he said.

Lim said they hope to finish not only the bidding process but also the post qualification assessment this month.

The Comelec Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) said the bidding documents for the Forwarding Services for the Deployment of Election Forms, Supplies and Paraphernalia are now available for interested bidders.

The Comelec has an Approved Budget Contract (ABC) of over P121 million covering four lots of the project, the BAC added.

The deadline for submission of bids is on Aug. 22.