11 bidders attend ARMM automated polls pre-bid conference

At least 11 parties have attended the Commission on Election's (Comelec) pre-bid conference for the automation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) elections a Comelec spokesperson said.

Among the companies who joined Tuesday's pre-bid conference was Mega Data Corp., which has indicated it will submit a position paper requesting that it be qualified to participate in the bid, said Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez.

Mega Data Corp., a local company pushing the "Botong Pinoy" (Vote Filipino) initiative, was hoping that it would be included as potential bidder despite not having any "track record" in a prior successful election.

Jimenez said that the "request for proposal," which was put together by the Comelec based on the recommendations made by an advisory council, requires that the potential bidder should have been part of a prior successful election.

The potential bidders were a mix of local and foreign companies, the Comelec spokesperson said. Jimenez, however, declined to give the names of the companies until they officially submit their bids on March 10, 2008.

The Department of Budget and Management has allocated about P867 million for the automation of the elections in ARMM this coming August.

The Comelec website has announced the schedule of the bid and its requirement for the upcoming elections.

The publication of the invitation to bid was made from February 14 to 16, 2008.

A pre-bid conference was scheduled on February 25 but was moved to February 26 because that day was declared a non-working holiday.

The Comelec is giving bidders until March 10, 2008 to submit their bids.

The opening bid documents is set on March 10, 2008.

The Comelec en banc announced in a resolution that it has accepted the recommendations of an advisory council led by the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT).

The recommendations include the use of two technologies in the ARMM elections: the direct recording electronic (DRE) technology and the optical mark-reader (OMR).

DRE uses a touch-screen or touch-pad technology for voting, while OMR requires voters to fill in a paper-based ballot that is fed to a specially designed machine, similar to a scanner.

The Comelec en banc, however, has decided to use the DRE technology for the whole province of Maguindanao, which was contrary to the advisory council's recommendation to limit its use to two cities or municipalities.

The Comelec en banc decided to use the DRE for the whole province of Maguindanao to fully test the technology in time for the 2010 elections.

"The recommended scope of the use of DRE technology is too insignificant to be a sound basis for a proper evaluation for that technology’s suitability for use in Philippine elections," the Comelec said in its resolution.

The advisory council is the body of expert advisers created under Republic Act 9369. It is a body tasked to recommend to the Comelec which technology to use for the automation of elections.

Members include the Chairman of the Commission on Information Communication Technology, representatives from the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Education, a representative from the academe, representatives from IT professional organizations and from non-governmental electoral reform organizations.
By Erwin Oliva - INQUIRER.net