Philippine Election 2010

Poll automation contract, awarded to winning bidder

After a long process of bidding, the Commission on Elections finally awarded the poll automation contract to Smartmatic and Total Information Management - the only bidder to pass the evaluation.

This will ensure that the 2010 national and local elections will be computerized.

“Everything is now on line for the 2010 elections. We are all set and there will be no hindrance for the 2010 polls, let us hope and pray we will have peaceful elections then,” Comelec chairman Jose said.

Melo quoted an en banc resolution that “after due deliberation, the Comelec resolves to approve report of Special Bids and Awards Committee confirming Total Information Management-Smartmatic as bidder with lowest calculated bid and award contract to them for the automation of elections on May 10, 2010.”

To ensure that the consortium will perform according to the contract terms and provisions, Smartmatic-TIM consortium must submit to Comelec a bond in the form of a manager’s check worth at least 5% of the total winning bid.

Melo noted that aside from Commissioners Lucenito Tagle, Rene Sarmiento, and Armando Velasco who signed the resolution, Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer who was on business trip, issued a sworn statement that he fully approved SBAC’s recommendation to award the automation project to Smartmatic-TIM. Even bypassed Commissioners Leonardo Leonida and Elias Yusoph concurred with resolution.

Melo added that only temporary restraining orders (TROs) from third parties can prevent the promulgation of the contract. However, they are confident that the Comelec’s transparency throughout the whole procurement process will be their defense against legal challenges.

Human intervention can be the main cause of poll automation failure

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is confident to say that technology won’t be the main cause of 2010 automation failure, but “human intervention” will.

Comelec chairman Jose Melo stressed that failure will not be because of the machines but because of those people with bad intentions to cheat through some sort of ballot snatching.

Melo added that he doesn’t think it would happen nationwide. He is expecting that in some particular areas, incidents like this is possible.

There are doubts about poll automation. People fear that during the transmission of voting results from precincts to Comelec, problems like sabotaging transmission networks or cellsites might occur.

There is also a fear of wholesale vote padding and shaving.

However, the poll body is confident that the winning bidder, Smartmatic and Information Management consortium has successfully passed the 26 criteria set for technical evaluation.

“The laws of probability will apply here. If there will be machines that will be sabotaged or ballots snatched, I think of the 80,000 machines, not all will fail—probably less than or about a hundred but not all,” said Melo.

Melo said a poll machine is expected to process about 1,000 ballots from four clustered poll precincts.

Comelec aims to sign the contract with the winning bidder this week.

Ex SC justices to draft the automation contract

To avoid an issue of the automation contract of Commission on Elections with the Smartmatic-Total Information Management consortium, the poll body tapped two Supreme Court’s retired justices Angelina Sandoval Gutierrez and Hugo Gutierrez Jr. to help draft the 2010 poll automation contract.

Comelec’s Special Bids and Awards Committee chairman Ferdinand Rafanan said that the poll body will make sure that the 2010 poll automation project will not be subject to legal challenges having questionable provisions that are unfavorable to Comelec or that might lead to the repeat of 2004 Mega Pacific case.

“Chairman Melo wanted all parts of the contract screened and sifted thoroughly,” Rafanan said.

The draft of contract will be patterned and based on the 2008 Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) automated elections.

Together with the Comelec Advisory Council and SBAC, the two former SC justices are working on the automation contract.

The final review of the contract is set today after three earlier reviews.

The Smartmatic-Total Information Management consortium was awarded the automation contract. It bid for a P7.2-billion automation contract from an original P11.2 billion budget.

Namfrel-PPCRV: New poll watching methods

Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) chairperson Henrietta de Villa said that they will carefully watch the election process.

“No matter how advanced the technology is, the important and vital factor in any election are the citizens who will guard their votes and democracy,” she said.

As the upcoming 2010 election will be an automated one, it will require new methods of poll watching.

“Poll automation is a new system of electing our national and local leaders and it requires a new system of guarding the elections—from start to finish,” De Villa said.

She added that as watchdog and citizens of the Philippines, PPCRV-Namfrel will watch the process, from the procurement of machines until the announcements of results and winners. They will be deploying five poll watchers.

From the previous elections, Namfrel and PPCRV are already involved in quick counts and giving tally of votes based on cumulative information of Election Results (ER) in polling precincts nationwide.

Namfrel-PPCRV have volunteers who watch the manual tallying and counting of votes in precincts. They also watch the transfering of ballots from precincts to municipal board of canvassers.

However, the 2010 elections will be a different scenario. Automation will render quick counts, so poll watching will require a different strategy to be able to provide accurate information and check for election election fraud.

Namfrel-PPCRV aims to watch the election process to ensure a clean, honest, accurate, meaningful and peaceful May 2010 polls.

New methods are now being planned. Among these are:

• They will deploy at least two technical and IT experts that will help troubleshoot poll machines in case of technicalities.
• There will be a group to watch for accountable material verifiable audit trail (AMVAT). They will guard the municipal treasurer’s office, ballot papers and other election materials. They will ensure that exact number of supplies is delivered without tampering.
• There will be a group to guard he final testing and sealing of precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines, that will be used to automate the counting of votes, generation of ERs and electronic transmission of consolidated voting data to Comelec.

“PPCRV-Namfrel will have all three copies of results—two printed ERs nd electronic data from the Comelec-designated server—to check for patterns of tampering and to validate if the results transmitted and posted at doors of precincts were clean and authentic,” said De Villa.

Based on provisions of the poll automation law, PPCRV and Namfrel will get at least two copies of the 30 ERs printed by the poll machines at close of polls and as an accredited citizen’s arm for the elections, the poll watchdog will also receive electronically transmitted voting results.

Automated 2010 Elections, all set

The Commission on Elections, after a month long bidding, will award the P11.3 billion contract for the automation of 2010 elections probably this week.

Comelec’s Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) chairman Ferdinand Rafanan said they will make the SBAC report and its recommendation to the Commission en banc. The awarding of contract will be upon the decision of the en banc whether they will approve it or not.

“We are all systems go for 2010 poll automation ,” Rafanan added.

The SBAC will make a recommendation for Smartmatic-Total Information Management, the bidder capable for the 2010 automation project.

The SBAC Technical Working Group did the technical evaluation and finished them last Saturday.

Smartmatic-TIM consortium successfully passed all 26 technical criteria, however, there are still few documents that must be verified for post qualification of eligibility of documents.

In terms of figures, Smartmatic-TIM only bid for P7.191 billion, P4 billion below the total contract amount. 

“The P4 billion will go to Comelec savings. Those are only figures and will only be disposed by the Department of Budget and Management for approved projects,” said Rafanan.

Katibayan 2010, a PPCRV-PCS agreement

A memorandum of agreement between the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and the Philippine Computer Society (PCS) was signed to formulate a new system of monitoring the 2010 election.

The memorandum, dubbed as “Katibayan 2010”, aims to “pave the way for an effective information dissemination and monitoring of the planned automated elections in May 2010.”

Through this partnership, the PPCRV and the PCS would inform the public about the developments regarding  2010 elections.

“This will also lead to the development of a new infrastructure that will allow PCS and the PPCRV to determine the accuracy of the tabulation of votes during Election Day,” incoming PCS president Nelson Celis said.

Security measures for bidder’s poll machines

The Commission on Elections’ Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) will set the schedule for the technical evaluations of PCOS machines after it resolves all pending bid appeals.

So far, the only bidder qualified to bid is the consortium of Smartmatic International and Total Information Management Corp.

The SBAC urged the consortium to provide security measures for their PCOS machines set up at the Palacio del Gobernador in Intramuros last Tuesday.

SBAC chairman Ferdinand Rafanan asked the bidder to coordinate their security personnel with the organic security force of the Comelec to guard the machines in order to prevent sabotage and rigging which might result to malfunction of machines during the technical demonstration.

“The machines are worth a lot and must be secured,” Rafanan said.

Smartmatic and Total Information Management Corp immediately comply with the SBAC’s order.

Bidders’ motions for reconsideration: 1 pending, 1 denied

The Commission on Elections’ Special Bids and Awards Committee, earlier said, that they are considering the appeals of two disqualified bidders.

The Sequoia Voting Systems-Universal Storefront Services consortium and the Gilat Sattelite Networks-FF Cruz & Co.-Filipinas Systems consortium were the bidders who filed motions for consideration to qualify for the P11.2 billion poll automation project.

The SBAC rejected the appeal of Sequoia consortium due to its failure to submit its Income Tax Return and the company has not been in existence for at least three years.

In the resolution, a bidder company should have an existence of at least three years as required by the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPBB).

Today, the SBAC will decide on the motion for reconsideration of the Gilat Sattelite Networks-FF Cruz & Co.-Filipinas Systems consortium that filed an appeal.

Meanwhile, the only consortium which qualified to bid for the project is now in preparation for the technical evaluation of PCOS machines.

Bidder accused a Comelec official for “irresponsible action”

Previous declaration of the Commission on Elections regarding the qualification of Smartmatic consortium as the only remaining bidder was misunderstood by other bidders.

There is such a violent reaction from a representative of AMA Group Holdings consortium, one of the so far disqualified bidders. 

AMA consortium representative, Johnny Ramos, accused Comelec spokesman James Jimenez of committing an “irresponsible action” after allegedly declaring Smartmatic consortium as the winner of the P11.2 billion automation contract.

“It is foul to declare Smartmatic will start the demonstration. On what basis? The SBAC said the demonstration will not start until all pending motions are resolved. Jimenez is not part of SBAC,” said Ramos.

Meanwhile, Jimenez denied the allegations against him and said that he did not created an impression that the Smartmatic had won the bid. He just facilitated a media interview where Smartmatic consortium said they are capable of passing the set technical criteria for the automated machines.

There is an SBAC mandate for bidders to avoid any media appearance while the bidding is ongoing, Ramos cited.

Comelec chairman Jose Melo’s reaction is that, “You know, different folks, different talks”.

Melo said that this issue won’t affect the bidding. 

Smartmatic consortium has to pass the technical demonstration and post-qualification evaluation of the bidding to get the contract.

“I will call the SBAC’s attention on this and file an appeal,” Ramos said.

But the AMA consortium’s appeal was, again, denied by the Comelec. In a resolution issued, SBAC chairman Ferdinand Rafanan upheld the consortium’s disqualification due to failure to comply with the requirements.

AMA Group Holdings-Elections Systems & Software International consortium failed to submit contracts of ongoing and completed government and private projects in the last three years, including projects in Minnesota and Michigan states.

The SBAC is still considering the appeals of two other bidders, the Sequoia Voting Systems-Universal Storefront Services consortium and the Gilat Sattelite Networks-FF Cruz & Co.-Filipinas Systems consortium, and will decide today until Thursday.

Comelec SBAC declared a sole bidder

The Commission on Elections’ Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) declared yesterday, May 18, the only bidder qualified for the P11.2 billion automation contract bidding.

According to SBAC vice chairman Adolfo Ibanez, Smartmatic and Total Information Management has complied with the poll body’s set requirements. 

The consortium of Smartmatic and Total Information Management the lowest calculated responsive bid. Their partnership asked only for a financial bid of P 7,191,484,739.48, which is P4 billion cheaper than the set P11.2 billion budget.

Ibanez cleared that this declaration does not mean the award was already given to Smartmatic/TIM consortium. The contract will only be awarded once they pass the technical evaluation of their PCOS machines.

Meanwhile, SBAC chairman Ferdinand Rafanan said, that a bidder with lowest calculated responsive bid does not necessarily mean that it has the least expensive proposal. 

“We have to strike a balance between the bidder’s eligibility to handle the project, their technical capacity to comply with requirements of the Comelec for the automated election system, and financial proposal that should not exceed the total contract amount,” Rafanan said.

The SBAC would be conducting post-evaluation of documents simultaneously with bidder’s technical demonstration and evaluation of machines before deciding on the poll body’s recommendation.

Bidders are barred from communicating with any SBAC member or official observer outside the bidding proceedings, to prevent any misconduct or any illegal negotiations.

The Comelec is still hopeful to award the contract before May ends and make an automated 2010 elections possible.

Malacañang on “no election” issue

Malacañang commented on the issue of no election. The palace said that this issue will do no good to our country.

Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Gabby Claudio on a said, “All this talk about a NO-EL scenario will not do the country any good. It is pointless, needless and baseless.”

Claudio added that the election is still a year away and that there is no reason for the public to be cynical. There shouldn’t be any doubt regarding the capability of the poll body to conduct a clean, efficient and credible automated election as provided by law.

In order to ensure that the 2010 elections will push through, it is the government’s priority to do everything within its power under the law.

A possible automated 2010 election, 2 bidders qualified

The Comelec’s Special Bids and Award’s committee (SBAC), after a careful deliberation, granted qualification for the two consortiums to bid for the P11.3 billion automation project.

The 2 bidders who passed the poll body’s technical screening are the consortium of Smartmatic of The Netherlands and Technology Information Management Inc. of the Philippines and the conglomerate of Indra Sistemas of Spain, Strategic Alliance Holdings Inc. of the Philippines and Hart Intercivic of the US.

The SBAC disqualified the Gilat Satellite Network Ltd. / F.F. Cruz and Co., Inc./Filipinas (Prefab Building) Systems, Inc.; and the AMA Group of Companies of the Philippines and Election System and Software of the US for not meeting eligibility requirements.

Now that the SBAC granted qualifications, there would be a possible automated election in 2010. 

However, the bidding has just started. The SBAC will still choose which of these 2 bidders would offer the “lowest calculated bid”.

The bidders with such “lowest calculated bid” would have to demonstrate its precinct optical scan (PCOS) machines. 

Still, there is a strict requirement in choosing a PCOS machine. The SBAC will test the machine under 26 criteria. The PCOS should be able to detect fake ballots and not reading “repeat” ballots as one of the main criteria.

In the event when the PCOS machines of the bidder with the “lowest calculated bid” failed to comply with the SBAC’s standards. The bidder with the second lowest bid will then be invited to present their PCOS machines to be evaluated.

The bidding process will be delayed for a week as the committee will have to deliberate for the motions for reconsideration filed by other disqualified bidders.

However, the Comelec is still confident they will meet the target of awarding the contract before the end of the month. 

 SBAC head Ferdinand Rafanan remains confident that the 2010 elections would be fully automated.

Poll body ruled on motions for reconsideration for 4 consortia

Today, May 15, is the scheduled resumption of the evaluation and the opening of bids of the four companies given a second chance to prove their worth to supply the voting and counting machines for the 2010 automated elections. 

The Commission on Elections’ Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC), on May 13, conducted meeting regarding the motions for reconsideration filed by the seven consortia.

All seven bidders composed of consortiums were disqualified from the last bidding due to their failure to comply with the requirements of the poll body. 

The bidders are:

1. Avante International/ Canon Marketing Philippines/ DB Wizards/ NETNODE Technologies/ Creative Point
2. Indra Sistemas/ Strategic Alliance Holdings, Inc. (SAHI)/ Hart Intercivic
3. Sequoia Voting Systems Inc./ Universal Storefront Services Corporation/ USSC-Sequoia Voting Solutions Inc.
4. Smartmatic International/ Total Information Management Corp.
5. Syrex Inc./ Amalgamated Motors Phils. Inc./ Avision Inc.
6. AMA Group Holdings Corp./ Election Systems and Software Int’l Inc. (ES&S)
7. Gilat Satellite Network Ltd./ F.F. Cruz and Co., Inc./ Filipinas (Prefab Building) Systems Inc.

The Comelec used a pass or fail system during the bidding.

These companies were given three days to file motion for reconsideration. Among them, only four consortiums were qualified to be reevaluated.

The SBAC ruled in the Omnibus Resolution No. 09-001, promulgated May 13, 2009, to carry “the evaluation of eligibility requirements and opening of bids of the consortiums Indra Systemas, S.A., Hart Intercivic, and SAHI; Smartmatic and Total Information Management; AMA and ES&S and Gilat Satellite Network Ltd. / F.F. Cruz and Co., Inc./Filipinas (Prefab Building) Systems, Inc.”

The motions for reconsideration of consortiums Avante International; Sequoia Voting Systems; and Syrex Inc. were denied.

Obvious intention to delay poll automation - Enrile

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on a Senate press release, May 13, said that there is an obvious intention to delay poll automation.

“I tell you, all my life, I have been a lawyer and was trained in the courtroom, I know when the proposals are not intended for delay and I know when they are intended for delay. And I am going stand my ground even to the point that I am unseated if they have the numbers to do it. Enough is enough”, Enrile said.

When the senator was asked about his assessment on poll automation, “was there an intention to delay?” He straightly answered, “Very obvious…”

Senator Enrile explained that he when the committee on constitutional amendments, constitution codes and laws were discussing the automation, he had directed the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to see to it and be certain that the the automation will work.

“If they have any doubt, I call them to prepare for a manual election,” Enrile said.

Enrile added that the senate cannot afford a situation where there is a re-election, as there will be chaos if there’s no election in 2010, unless they amend the Constitution and adopt another system of government.

“If we maintain the present the Constitution and we have no election in 2010, imagine a country without a President, without a Vice-President, without a Senate, without a Congress, without governors and mayors to run their local government. This is chaos. This is going to be anarchy. It’s one for himself,” Enrile feared.

However, the senator still want the poll automation be possible.

“I said go ahead with automation but prepare for the eventual need for a manual election,” he said.

When asked if partial automation is an option, he momentarily answered, “Hindi pwede na partial ang automation. They are not authorized. The authority given to them is full automation. If they cannot do full automation, they must say so and prepare for a manual election.”

If it’s going to be a manual election, the Comelec can only use the needed amount for a manual election from the supplemental budget given to them. 

Senator Enrile point out that if there are no people qualified to handle automated elections, the Comelec must make a proclamation to the public and proceed to manual elections. He, again, said that the country cannot afford NOT to have any election.

“I am not imputing any ill motives to anybody. I deal with situations objectively and realistically. If we cannot go automated election in 2010, the authority on elections which is COMELEC must be frank enough to tell the people the truth and nothing but the truth and prepare for a manual elections. Otherwise, they will be held responsible,” Enrile said.

Youth Voters who vote last SK elections need to register again - Comelec

The Commission on Elections spokesman James Jimenez said that youth voters who registered last 2007 during the Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Council, SK) elections should register again for them to be able to vote for the 2010 elections.

Those SK voters aged 15 to 17 that time, are registered but their registration does that make them “qualified for regular elections” because the verification process for voters in regular elections is more thorough compared to that of SK elections, Jimenez added.

Voters, turning 18 on election day, may register at the Comelec office where he/she resides.

An applicant must accomplish the forms, and submit accomplished forms to the election officer.

Voter must present any valid identification card such as student’s ID or library card signed by the school authority, NBI or police clearance, postal ID, driver’s license, SSS card, GSIS ID, PRC license or employee’s ID.

In the event that the voter failed to present any of the required identification documents, the applicant may be identified under oath by any registered voter of the precinct, or any of his/her relatives within fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity.

Upon receipt of the application form from the elction officer, the voter may proceed to the data capturing machines to get his/her biometrics.

Deadline of registration for the 2010 elections is on October 31.