Comelec to hold second bidding for additional voting machines

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will hold a second bidding for the additional voting machines to be used in the 2016 polls after denying yesterday the motions for reconsideration filed by bidders.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the poll body’s Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) junked the motions for reconsideration of Smartmatic-TIM and Indra Sistemas S.A. which are vying to supply 23,000 optical mark reader (OMR) machines worth P2,503,518,000.

BAC also denied the motion of Smartmatic-TIM for the contract to provide 410 units of direct recording electronic (DRE) machines with a budget of P31,272,000. There was no other bidder for this project.

Smartmatic and Indra were disqualified from the biddings after BAC found their financial proposals to be “non-responsive.” They filed motions for reconsideration to question the decision. But the BAC reiterated its earlier ruling disqualifying the two service providers.

According to Jimenez, Smartmatic and Indra could still join the second bidding but they have to submit another bid offer. They will also be on equal footing with other bidders.

In its Invitation to Bid, BAC said that bid documents for the DRE and OMR projects may be purchased from the Comelec office in Palacio del Gobernador in Intramuros, Manila until May 30 for P25,000 and P75,000, respectively.

Included in the DRE contract is the technical support amounting to P522,000. The OMR project, on the other hand, includes ballots (P61.218,000), ballot boxes (P1,312,000) and technical support (P42,300,000.).

A pre-bid conference will be held on March 16 wherein the “eligibility requirements and the technical and financial components” of the projects will be discussed.

Submission and opening of bids are scheduled on March 30 at the Comelec office.