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Comelec declares ‘failure of bidding’ on P600-M lease of vote-counting machines

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Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A malfunctioning vote-counting machine is tested at the Tomas Morato Elementary School in Quezon City, May 13, 2019." src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/09/09/20190513-elections-vcm-fsj-1836.jpg?ext=.jpg"/><figcaption>A malfunctioning vote-counting machine is tested at the Tomas Morato Elementary School in Quezon City, May 13, 2019. <em>Fernando G. Sepe Jr., ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA— The Commission on Elections (Comelec) declared Thursday a &quot;failure of bidding&quot; for the lease of 10,000 additional vote-counting machines (VCMs) with SD cards for use in next year&#x27;s elections, with a total approved budget of P600.5 million.</p><p>Only Smartmatic-Total Information Management bought bid documents but did not submit a bid offer, citing a sharp increase in electronic components and logistics cost.</p><p>In a letter to Comelec, Smartmatic&#x27;s authorized representative Filipinas Ordoño said a pandemic-induced “acute shortage in electronics components” has driven costs up by 20 to 25 percent, while logistics cost has risen by as much as 200 percent in 2020.</p><p>Ordoño assured the special bids and awards committee (SBAC) the firm could deliver the VCMs in time “should the appropriate budget be in place in order to cover all the increased cost of electronic components and logistics.”</p><p>The SBAC immediately proceeded to a mandatory review of the first round of bidding. </p><p>Under the Government Procurement Reform Act (Republic Act No. 9184), the contract shall be re-advertised and re-bid using the same process and rules during the first competitive bidding. Should a second bidding fail, the SBAC may resort to negotiated procurement. </p><p>Smartmatic already bagged the P452.52-million contract for the software for the election management systems, VCMs, and consolidation and canvassing system, as well as the contract for refurbishment of 97,345 VCMs amounting to P637.44 million.</p><p>The election solutions provider has been involved in Philippine elections since 2010, providing the hardware and software for the first ever nationwide automated elections.</p><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1769993" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Comelec declared Thursday a 'failure of bidding' for the lease of 10,000 additional vote-counting machines (VCMs) with SD cards.

Comelec declares ‘failure of bidding’ on P600-M lease of vote-counting machines

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Comelec declares ‘failure of bidding’ on P600-M lease of vote-counting machines

Ina Reformina,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 09, 2021 12:39 PM PHT

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Comelec

Halalan 2022

2022 elections

Smartmatic

vote-counting machines

VCMs

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