Comelec amends rules as it gears up for ARMM poll automation bidding

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections has amended one of its requirements in the bidding for the automation of the August 2008 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in order to ensure the inclusion of Filipino technology proponents. The amendment was contained in Comelec's Bid Bulletin No 5 which was issued don Tuesday to clarify certain terms of the Request for Proposal (RFP). The bulletin was issued after Mega Data Corporation, a local technology company, complained about some pre-bid qualifications which effectively barred local firms from the bidding. Cited by the company were sections A-13, B-9, and B-30 of the RFP, which require that the Automated Election System to have “already been successfully used and proven secure, accurate, and reliable in an actual, public political election where it was last used, with a written certification to fact from the election authority of the client country/state/province." The poll body said the requirement of successful use in a prior public political election was objected to by Filipino technology proponents who pointed out that local technology has never been used in any public political election. Mega Data said the requirement is discriminatory as it would effectively disqualify local companies. In authorizing the amendment, the Commission en banc acknowledged that many non-public and non-political elections - such as elections held by private organizations - have been successfully conducted by electronic means. “Considering the widespread use of electronic voting systems in various non-political elections throughout the country, as well as the general acceptability of the results of those elections, it is abundantly clear to the Commission en banc that prior successful use in a public political election need not be the only applicable standard," Bid Bulletin No 5 stated. With the issuance of the bid bulletin, signed by Comelec Executive Director Jose Tolentino Jr, an offered automated election system now only needs to have been successfully used in a prior election in order to be considered in the bidding. The deadline for submission and receipt of bids is March 11, 2008, 1:30 p.m. at Comelec session hall in Intramuros, Manila. At least 11 local and foreign companies, including Mega Data, have attended the pre-bid conference for the automation of ARMM elections last month. Mega Data is pushing for the use of its AES called Botong Pinoy. MDC is also the company providing system for the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearance and Philippine Driver's License. Comelec's effort to modernize the electoral process started in 1992 in a strategic planning seminar in Tagaytay City conducted after the May 1992 Synchronized National and Local Elections, according to the Comelec website on the historical background of the modernization of the electoral process. It said in May 1995, Republic Act (RA) 8046 entitled "An Act Authorizing the Commission on Elections to Conduct a Nationwide Demonstration of a Computerized Election System and Pilot-Test It in the March 1996 Elections in the autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and for Other Purposes" was passed into law. It served as COMELEC's legal basis to introduce the new system. On the eve of September 9, 1996, election day, the new computerized election system was put to the test. The winning candidates for the Regional Assemblymen, district level, were proclaimed after 48 hours, and the winning gubernatorial and vice-gubernatorial races were proclaimed after 72 hours. The Comelec, House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL)and Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) all declared the pilot-testing of the computerized election system as a success. On December 22, 1997, RA 8436 or "An Act Authorizing the Commission on Elections to Use an Automated Election System in the May 11, 1998 National or Local Elections and in Subsequent National and Local Electoral Exercises, Providing Funds Therefor and for Other Purposes" was passed into law. In February 1998, with the concurrence of the Advisory Council and for lack of sufficient preparation, time and funding, the automated election system was decided to be used only in the ARMM provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi for the May 1998 elections. In April 1998, due to the same reason of time constraint and the fact the machines were already owned by the poll body, the Advisory Council, with the concurrence of Comelec and DOST, recommended that the requirement of RA 8436 that the machines to be used for the automated counting of votes in ARMM be pre-tested by DOST be by-passed. For the May 1998 election, two ballots were prepared for each ARMM voter: one for the national positions: President, Vice-President, Senators and Party-List Representatives; and the other for local positions: Congressman, Governor, Vice-Governor, Provincial Board Members, Mayor, Vice-Mayor, and Councilors. Technical glitches marred the political exercise. Ballots for the province of Sulu were re-counted at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) due to an error in NPO's printing procedure while results in several municipalities in Lanao del Sur were re-counted manually due to errors in printing of the ballots and procedural errors. - GMANews.TV