Smartmatic reluctant to join Comelec’s second bidding for voting machines

Venezuelan technology provider Smartmatic-TIM is having second thoughts about participating in the Commission on Election’s (Comelec) second bidding for the lease of new voting machines for the 2016 polls after it was disqualified on a mere technicality. 

 

Smartmatic president for Asia Pacific Cesar Flores on Wednesday said Comelec’s rejection of the company’s P1.72 billion bid for the lease contract for optical mark reader (OMR) machines because of purported defects in its bid document has hurt its credibility.

 

“We’re concerned that if the BAC [bids and awards committee] will be using technicalities to dismiss our bid even though we [provide] our best efforts to give Comelec our best price and significant savings—in this case, more than P700 million—..., then we’re really worried about participating in a second bidding,” Flores told lawmakers at the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms’ hearing on Comelec’s preparations for the 2016 elections.

 

Comelec recently disqualified Smartmatic and its rival company, Indra S.A., from participating in the bid for purportedly submitting defective proposals. The BAC dismissed Smartmatic’s bid as “non-responsive” because it had put a hyphen in lieu of a certain price or zero for certain items. 

 

GPPB resolution

 

Smartmatic had proposed a P1.72-billion budget for the lease of 23,000 OMR machines, with an additional P505 million if the poll body wants to purchase the equipment. Its bid is around P700 million cheaper than the P2.5 billion Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC).

 

In the company’s defense, Flores said they only followed the format indicated in a Comelec resolution on electronic bidding.

 

Section 12.1a of the Guidelines for Electronic Bidding (E-Bidding) in GPPB Resolution No. 23-2013 states that “where a required item is provided, but no price is indicated, the same shall be considered as non-responsive, but specifying a “0” (zero) or dash (-) for the said item would mean that it is being offered for free to the Government.”

 

The Smartmatic executive said the company offered a price of P51,000 per machine for its current bid, which is cheaper than the price it had offered for the lease of Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines in 2009.

 

Indra, in contrast, had submitted a bid totaling P3.69 billion for the machines, which is P1.18 billion higher than the ABC. 

 

Exhausting legal avenues

 

“The purpose of the competitive bid was achieved, which was to get a very competitive price. Our position is the bid should have been about the capability of the bidders to offer quality goods and services, as well as the price. [It should not have been about] focusing on very flimsy technicalities that [we believe] isn’t a reason to disqualify such an advantageous proposal,” Flores said.

 

Short of participating in another bid, Flores said the company is exhausting all legal avenues to appeal the BAC’s ruling, such as the filing of a motion for reconsideration and possibly, an official protest.

 

The Comelec has revised its timeline for the procurement of new voting technologies following the failure of bidding for the OMR machines. A pre-bid conference is scheduled on March 16 while the bid submission and commencement will occur on March 30.

 

The poll body plans to issue the notice of award on May 7 and issue the notice to proceed on May 18. —KG, GMA News