Lente: Hold supplier liable for bleeding marking pens

MANILA, Philippines — Poll watchdog Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente) yesterday expressed concern over reports that some marking pens to be used in next week’s midterm polls were either bleeding or take too long to dry.

Lente executive director Rona Caritos said this matter should not be ignored as it could affect the credibility of the coming elections.  

“As to the bleeding pen issue, it is a cause for concern,” said Caritos, as she stressed the need for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to investigate and hold the supplier liable.

The defective marking pens were reported in Apayao province last week as the poll body was conducting demonstration for the voting using dummy ballots. 

During the demonstration, some pens either bled or did not dry up as fast as expected. 

In previous elections, Smartmatic was supplying the marking pens, but the company’s role in the 2019 elections has been limited to providing technical support primarily to the vote counting machines. 

For the coming elections, it was Triplex Co. that won the contract for the supply of marking pens worth P26.5 million.

Caritos expressed confidence the Comelec could fix the problem sooner, without resorting to poll postponement or delay in the elections.

She urged the poll body to be “transparent as to which areas are affected and how they plan to roll out these pens.”

The Comelec has assured the public that it procured 1.2 million pieces of marking pens, which is way more than the required 595,000 pieces for the 85,000 polling precincts.