Abalos fumes over security paper controversy

He may have kept his composure in his refusal to automate the polls this May, but Elections Chair Benjamin Abalos lost his cool in relation to a P300-million controversy over ballot security paper. Abalos scored media reports Monday that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) awarded the contract to a firm that submitted a higher bid, saying the complainant should have gone to them instead of to the media. With his voice raised, Abalos said in Filipino that, "How can we look into it when there's no complaint, when the complainant just went to the media?" He told dzXL radio that the Comelec's Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), which awards the contracts, works "independently" from the chairman's office. The latest controversy to hit the Comelec involved the purchase of P300 million worth of security paper to be used in the printing of ballots. Malaya newspaper quoted a Comelec insider as saying Lamco Paper Products Corp. was awarded the contract despite posting a bid of P23,899 per ream, compared to that of Advance Computer Forms, which had the lowest bid at P14,999 per ream, or a price difference of P8,999 per ream. The source said Lamco tendered a total bid of P310,543,606 while Advance submitted a total bid of P194,897,006, or a difference of P115,646,600. Lamco and Advance were the only firms which qualified out of four bidders. The other two, Noah's Paper and Multi-Forms Corp., failed to meet the requirements of the Comelec BAC. The Comelec en banc approved the recommendation of the BAC in a resolution dated Jan. 23, 2007. Another source quoted by Malaya said the Comelec-BAC made the award under "questionable circumstances" since no representative from the bidders or any technical expert was present during the evaluation procedure for the security features of the samples provided by Lamco and Advance. Records also showed that the Comelec-BAC revised the specifications of the ballot paper three days before the scheduled bidding last January 20. Normally, bidders get a notice of seven days. The Malaya report also said the Comelec source claimed Lamco, which is owned by a Terry Sy, supplies the paper used in books procured by the Department of Education. Policing its ranks When asked if he would order an investigation into the matter if a formal complaint were lodged before his office, Abalos said, "Yes, yes." However, opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson voiced concern over the incident, saying it can mean the Comelec is already engaging in cheating well before election day. "The campaign period is not even underway, but if the reports are true, the Comelec is already cheating," he said in Filipino on dzXL radio. Lacson added that the decision of the Comelec "insider" to approach the media instead of bring it to the proper authorities shows the lack of trust in government. "It is a sad commentary on our governance because the government lacks credible people we can approach. If they go to the proper agency they fear their complaints will be ignored," he said. Modern elections Only last weekend, Abalos fiercely defended the Comelec's refusal to implement the newly signed election automation law, maintaining that it was "operationally impossible" to perform. He said he would rather go to jail than oversee a half-baked implementation of a law that he said required six months of preparation and consultations with local executives concerned. Abalos said the Comelec can only implement this May the electronic transmission of election results. Senator Richard Gordon last Friday threatened to lodge an impeachment complaint before the Ombudsman against Abalos should the latter refuse to implement the law in pilot areas this May. - GMANews.TV