Comelec signs contract for 2010 poll automation

CEBU, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has finally signed yesterday the P7.2-billion automation contract with the joint venture of Smartmatic International Corp. and Total Information Management Corp. (TIM), signaling the start of the full-blast preparation for computerized 2010 polls.

The signing did not come easy for the Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM, having had to hurdle several issues like biased and questionable bidding and the two companies’ bickering.

And yesterday, the signing was delayed for almost three hours.  But Comelec chairman Jose Melo said that some “minor editorial changes” had to be made on the 25-page contract.

The signing took place although a petition for injunction and temporary restraining order (TRO) had been filed before the Supreme Court by the Concerned Citizens Movement led by lawyer Harry Roque.

“We are confident that there’ll be no TRO…I’d like to emphasize that we signed the contract notwithstanding the fact that there was a petition filed yesterday. It’s not that we are sort of ignoring the Supreme Court but this project, the election, is not like any other project like a construction project.  We cannot postpone the election and we have to meet some timeline. Things must be done in certain particular time,” Melo noted in a press briefing.

Representing Smartmatic in contract was its chief finance officer Armando Yanes while TIM was represented by its senior vice president Salvador Aque.  The joint venture was represented by chairman of the board Juan Villa Jr.

The budget earmarked for the automation of the May 10, 2010 local and national polls was P11.2 billion but the bid offer of Smartmatic-TIM was only P7.2 billion.

The joint corporation was immediately issued a “notice to proceed” by Atty. Ferdinand Rafanan, director of the Comelec’s Law Department and head of the Special Bids and Awards Committee.

The notice will enable Smartmatic-TIM to go on with the manufacturing of the 82,200 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines in the Smartmatic’s plant in Taiwan. A machine will be installed in each precinct come the election.

The Comelec has created a project management team that will work closely with Smartmatic-TIM.

For the joint venture’s part, spokesman Cesar Flores claimed that they are confident that the Comelec “will be able to answer the petitions properly.”

“Everyone has their constitutional right to file a case. We have no say in that. But that will not stop us from pushing through with this project,” he added.

Flores said that Smartmatic-TIM intends to go “full speed” in the preparation with the contract already been signed and the “notice to proceed” issued.

“We already have some people in the project management team working for weeks now. What comes next are meetings, meetings and more meetings with the project management office of Comelec.  Both teams need to start…understanding the lines of reporting and responsibilities,” he added.

Flores has reiterated that the joint venture is “very comfortable” with the time left for them to prepare for the elections.

He said that Smartmatic-TIM would immediately place purchase orders for all the machines.

“This is the most critical aspect. We’ll be sourcing different components and they have different lead time. So these purchase orders will be placed immediately.  Expect those materials to start arriving within five and eight weeks.  Once all the materials are there, the production line will be started,” Flores added.

Around 2,000 machines are expected to be manufactured daily.  The joint venture will have to start delivering the machines in November until in January next year.

Rafanan said the Comelec would pay Smartmatic-TIM on staggered basis or in 13 “milestones,” pertaining to categorized project deliverables.

He added the last batch of payment would be made after the election in an amount equivalent to 15 percent or P108-billion balance of the P7.2-billion contact price. – Philippine Star News Service/NLQ (THE FREEMAN)