Comelec bids out P727-M supply deal

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is bidding out a P727.2-million contract to lease a voter verification system (VVS) to be used in the 2016 presidential polls.

In an invitation to bid, the Comelec said the amount includes 23,000 units of VVS priced at P90,000 each or a total of P690 million and technical support amounting to P37.2 million.

The technical support is comprised of 4,000 technicians to be deployed in polling centers and 135 technicians to be assigned in the national technical support center.

Interested bidders may purchase the bidding documents for a non-refundable fee of P75,000 until Feb. 23 at the Comelec Bids and Awards Committee Secretariat on the 7th floor of the Palacio del Gobernador building in Intramuros, Manila.

The pre-bid conference will be held at the Comelec session hall on the 8th floor of Palacio del Gobernador at 10 a.m. on Feb. 10.

Submission of bids is set on Feb. 23  before 1 p.m.

Spokesman James Jimenez said the Comelec will pilot the VVS through voters’ biometrics records to determine if they are eligible to vote in 2016.

The VVS will be partnered with the 23,000 optical mark reader (OMR) machines being readied to complement the old precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines, he added.

The use of VVS was not included in the recommendations of the multi-sector Comelec Advisory Council.

The Comelec adopted the VVS technology to strengthen the security features of the voting system.

The VVS could help determine if a voter is in the voter’s lists and therefore qualified to vote.