The Automated Election System Watch (AES Watch) today asked the immediate convening of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee (JCOC) on the automated elections and look into a recent report by the Commission on Audit (CoA) regarding the overpricing of the delivery and transport of ballot boxes in the May 2010 elections and Nov. 13 special polls.

According to CoA, the contract between the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and automated election system provider, Smartmatic, for the ballot boxes in the May 10, 2010 elections and the Nov. 13 special elections amounting toP562.62 million was excessive.

Citing the CoA, news reports said Comelec paid Smartmatic P519.02 million for the transport and delivery of the 77,000 ballot boxes (or P6,740.57 per) for the May 2010 elections. The price for the delivery and transport of each ballot went up for the November special elections at P10,857.14 or a total of P7.6 million.

Both the Smartmatic and Comelec should be asked by the JCOC to explain why the excessive pricing in the second contract compared to the first, AES Watch through acting spokesperson Edmundo Casino said today.

The Audit commission revelation only confirms reports since last year regarding possible irregularities in the election contracts – some of which did not go through bidding, Casino said.

"It's time for Congress particularly the JCOC and the Senate committee on electoral reform and people's participation (CERPP) to probe into these reports," the AES Watch spokesperson. "Even if Comelec admitted there were errors in the Smartmatic system used in the last elections the poll body is entertaining the purchase of the Smartmatic PCOS machines for the next elections."

The mistakes of the past election should not be repeated in the next polls, AES Watch said. Key toward ensuring the credibility and accuracy of the next automated elections is to wrap up issues on accountability and move toward preparing carefully for the next polls including the tapping of Filipino IT technology and expertise, Casino added.

CoA also revealed that the contracts awarded to Smartmatic for the purchase of 77,000 ballot boxes for the May 2010 elections and 630 more boxes for the Nov. 13 special polls amounted to P243 million and P2 million, respectively. But the documents for the May 2010 delivery furnished by the Comelec to the Audit commission disclosed only a total of 76,977 boxes distributed leaving the difference of 653 worth P2 million still unaccounted for, CoA added.

Casino said RA 9369 is clear about the bid price of election paraphernalia that includes deployment and thus should not have been an additional burden to the government under a separate contract. The mother contract between Comelec and Smartmatic specifies in Article 3, Section 3.1 par. b that services provided for under the systems integration and project management include "deployment, installation, pullout, and warehousing" – clearly a responsibility of the provider.

Citing a U.S. embassy cable in 2009, a separate expose by Wikileaks noted Comelec's display of "favoritism" toward Smartmatic, a Dutch-Venezuelan marketing firm. Smartmatic won the contract to supply the AES technology with a P7.2 billion bid offer regardless of the malfunctioning of its PCOS machines during a test run and failure of its ballot paper to meet bid requirements.

A citizens' watchdog composed of more than 40 election reform groups formed in January 2010, AES Watch continues to monitor the automated elections and currently engages both the Comelec and Congress as the country gears for the ARMM and 2013 elections. Member- organizations include the UP Alumni Association (UPAA), CBCP-Nassa, Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG), Philippine Computer Society (PCS) Foundation, Transparency International –Philippines, Concerned Citizens Movement, TransparentElections.org, AMRSP, Solidarity Philippines., NUSP, Computer Professionals Union, NCCP, Association of Schools and Colleges of Public Administration (ASPAP), and others.

AES Watch's emeritus chair is former Vice President Teofisto Guingona while its first spokesperson and a lead convener, Alfredo Pascual, is now UP president.

For reference:

Edmundo Casino
c/o Tel. No.+9299526 or CP No. 09173965220
AES Watch Secretariat office: +632-3554022
Alley 14, Project 6, Quezon City

 

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