Smartmatic wins poll automation contract

MANILA, Philippines - It’s now official.

The consortium of Smartmatic-Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) will supply the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will use in automating the 2010 general elections.

The Comelec signed yesterday a resolution officially declaring Smartmatic-TIM as the bidder with the “lowest calculated responsive bid” earning for itself the lease contract for the machines.

“The total bid of TIM-Smartmatic amounting to P7,191,484,739.48 is well within the approved budget for the contract of P11,223,618,400.00,” the resolution showed.

Smartmatic-TIM was recommended by the Comelec’s Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) after hurdling the month-long eligibility, technical, financial and post-qualification screening against six other bidders.

The Comelec had directed SBAC to issue the Notice of Award to the consortium “with instruction to post a performance security in an amount no less than five percent of the contract price and to issue the Notice to Proceed after posting of said performance security and the approval of the contract,” the resolution stated.

In an interview, Comelec chairman Jose Melo noted the poll body was guided by the endorsements of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), the Office of the Ombudsman and the Comelec Advisory Council (CAC) in granting the SBAC recommendation. These three agencies stood as official observers during the bidding.

“After this, preparations for automation will proceed... Everything is on track,” Melo added.

In its observation report, CAC chairman and Commission on Information and Communication Technology head Secretary Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua maintained that there was “consistency, transparency and conformity to the law and terms of reference” in the bidding proceeding conducted by SBAC.

Regarding the “wire-burning incident” involving the cables used by Smartmatic-TIM to connect a PCOS machine to a battery during a demonstration, CAC had concluded that it was not “sufficient justification to disqualify” the consortium.

PPCRV official observer Dr. Arwin Serrano had concurred with the SBAC recommendation, while the Office of the Ombudsman found the “proceeding and the systems to be consonant with the Constitution, procurement laws, Republic Act 9369 (Poll Automation Law) and jurisprudence.”

The Comelec is set to give its notice of award to Smartmatic-TIM today but the poll body is expected to award the lease contract in the next few days. The bidder will be required to supply some 82,000 PCOS machines.

This is not the first time that Smartmatic will work with Comelec. With its former Filipino partner Strategic Alliance Holding Inc., Smartmatic supplied the optical mark reader machines used by the Comelec in the August 2008 regional election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Smartmatic’s main branch is in the Netherlands but it also has offices in Venezuela, United States, Mexico, Barbados, Spain, Taiwan and the Philippines.