EDITORIAL - Beyond reorganization

It’s not a test and no one is going to copy answers, so there are voters who feel no need to use secrecy folders when they fill out ballots on May 10. For those who want privacy as they make their choices, the official cardboard folders used in the 2007 midterm elections should suffice, unless certain enterprising souls in the Commission on Elections — and there seem to be a lot of them in the poll body — have sold the huge piles of cardboard by the kilo to scrap dealers.

Why taxpayers have to shell out P689.7 million for new polypropylene folders, at a cost of P380 each, only Comelec officials can explain. Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said the deal would no longer push through. He caused some confusion the other day by saying that while the cost of the folders appeared exorbitant, there was no overprice.

Yesterday Comelec officials said their Bids and Awards Committee, whose head Maria Lea Alarkon had defended the price as reasonable, would likely be reorganized. An investigation has been ordered, with results awaited within two weeks. Meanwhile, the company that won the deal through negotiated contract, OTC Paper Supply, said it would demand that the Comelec honor the deal.

Can a contract worth P689.7 million be awarded without public bidding? The Comelec explained that the design of the folder is unique, with a patent for it filed by OTC a week before it was awarded the contract. How unique do taxpayers want something that is meant to give voters a measure of privacy as ballots are filled out? The cost of the deal is nearly a tenth of the amount for the poll automation contract won by Smartmatic-TIM. About P30 million will be added to the automation cost for the purchase of portable lamps that will read security features on each ballot. The Comelec said Smartmatic used the wrong ink on the ballots, making the voting machines unable to read the ultraviolet marks. Why should taxpayers be stuck with the tab for such costly mistakes?

Even as Melo awaits the results of a probe into the contract for the ballot secrecy folders, he should be prepared to go beyond a reorganization of the Bids and Awards Committee. He should also initiate a review of other major purchases approved by the committee. Anyone who tries to pull a fast one on taxpayers should be punished for it.