Poll body seeks additional P21-B budget to prepare for 2010
MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will need an additional P21 billion next year in preparations for the 2010 automated general elections.
Comelec Chairman Jose Armando R. Melo on Thursday said the proposal is on top of the poll body’s P5-billion budget for 2009.
He added the supplemental budget request was sent on Monday to Budget Secretary Rolando G. Andaya, Jr.
"We were able to come up with a lower assumption this time because previously what we have computed was based on the actual cost per unit used in the ARMM [Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao] elections," Mr. Melo told Senate reporters after a budget hearing.
The supplemental budget will mainly cover expenses for the nationwide use of direct recording equipment (DRE) system, which involves touch screen voting, although the Comelec’s Advisory Council has yet to issue a formal recommendation on the technology by end-October, Mr. Melo said.
He said they would use optical media reader (OMR) system, which reads shaded ballots through high-speed scanners, for "far-flung areas" that lack electricity.
In the Aug. 11 ARMM elections, Comelec spent P525 million for the DRE system provided by Venezuelan firm Smartmatic International, while P125 million was spent for the OMR system provided by US firm Avante International Technology, Inc.
"Based on our timetable, the terms of reference [of the automation plan] should have already come out by November," he said.
However, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, chairman of the finance subcommittee B tackling the poll body’s budget, said the proposal seems bloated.
"There are some countries where even with a manual system of voting, the election results have been speedy and remain credible.
"So although we know that this will go to a system with more integrity, still, it seems to be overpriced for a developing country," Ms. Santiago told reporters.
"We can approve the concept of supplemental budget at a lower level. We’ll have to hear from the [Budget department] because they have an order of priority when they draw up the budget for any fiscal year and if the amount is very hefty, you’ll have to cut a lot of personal services and maintenance and other operating expenses and capital outlay from the budget of other agencies," she added.
Senator Richard J. Gordon, Senate panel chairman of the joint congressional oversight committee, said he would push for the approval of the Comelec’s P26-billion budget for 2009.
Mothballed equipment
Meanwhile, Ms. Santiago questioned the Comelec’s non-recovery of the P1.2 billion it paid to Mega Pacific e-Solutions, Inc., which supplied the mothballed automated equipment for the 2004 elections.
This, despite a Supreme Court decision in the same year that voided the contract.
Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo T. Ferrer said they have filed a counterclaim against Mega Pacific e-Solutions.
"Our move now is to file a motion for summary judgment attaching to that motion, the final and executory decision of the court, directing Mega Pacific and its stockholders to return to Comelec the amount that we have paid," Mr. Ferrer said. - BusinessWorld
Comelec Chairman Jose Armando R. Melo on Thursday said the proposal is on top of the poll body’s P5-billion budget for 2009.
He added the supplemental budget request was sent on Monday to Budget Secretary Rolando G. Andaya, Jr.
"We were able to come up with a lower assumption this time because previously what we have computed was based on the actual cost per unit used in the ARMM [Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao] elections," Mr. Melo told Senate reporters after a budget hearing.
The supplemental budget will mainly cover expenses for the nationwide use of direct recording equipment (DRE) system, which involves touch screen voting, although the Comelec’s Advisory Council has yet to issue a formal recommendation on the technology by end-October, Mr. Melo said.
He said they would use optical media reader (OMR) system, which reads shaded ballots through high-speed scanners, for "far-flung areas" that lack electricity.
In the Aug. 11 ARMM elections, Comelec spent P525 million for the DRE system provided by Venezuelan firm Smartmatic International, while P125 million was spent for the OMR system provided by US firm Avante International Technology, Inc.
"Based on our timetable, the terms of reference [of the automation plan] should have already come out by November," he said.
However, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, chairman of the finance subcommittee B tackling the poll body’s budget, said the proposal seems bloated.
"There are some countries where even with a manual system of voting, the election results have been speedy and remain credible.
"So although we know that this will go to a system with more integrity, still, it seems to be overpriced for a developing country," Ms. Santiago told reporters.
"We can approve the concept of supplemental budget at a lower level. We’ll have to hear from the [Budget department] because they have an order of priority when they draw up the budget for any fiscal year and if the amount is very hefty, you’ll have to cut a lot of personal services and maintenance and other operating expenses and capital outlay from the budget of other agencies," she added.
Senator Richard J. Gordon, Senate panel chairman of the joint congressional oversight committee, said he would push for the approval of the Comelec’s P26-billion budget for 2009.
Mothballed equipment
Meanwhile, Ms. Santiago questioned the Comelec’s non-recovery of the P1.2 billion it paid to Mega Pacific e-Solutions, Inc., which supplied the mothballed automated equipment for the 2004 elections.
This, despite a Supreme Court decision in the same year that voided the contract.
Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo T. Ferrer said they have filed a counterclaim against Mega Pacific e-Solutions.
"Our move now is to file a motion for summary judgment attaching to that motion, the final and executory decision of the court, directing Mega Pacific and its stockholders to return to Comelec the amount that we have paid," Mr. Ferrer said. - BusinessWorld
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