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RG Cruz

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MANILA — Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros flagged the huge expense the Commission on Elections incurred in leasing, instead of buying new vote counting machines for the May 2025 National and Local Elections.Senator Imee Marcos, sponsor of the poll body&#x27;s budget, however, explained why the Comelec got a good deal by merely leasing.Marcos said the machines will have both OMR and DRE technology. Hontiveros believes the country may have saved more if it picked a machine with just one of the functionalities.&quot;I think it would be more accurate to say that they are not actually combined. Both options are just available in the machines. Individually, each has been tested. Kung baga sa ilaw, regular electric supply. Pero kapag na-brown out, tsaka lang gagamitin yung genset,&quot; Marcos said.&quot;So, di ba, kung ganun, good sponsor, bakit hindi na lang OMR machines ang prinocure or ili-lease para dito sa Pilipinas, DRE machines para sa ibang bansa. Dahil kung sa iisang kaha, may dalawang sistema, pero ia-activate yung isa, o yung isa, depende sa switch na bubuksan, combination system talaga siya. OMR at DRE, good sponsor, na hindi pa nagagamit dito sa Pilipinas, or malamang sa ibang bansa sa mundo, good sponsor,” Hontiveros asked.Marcos explained that in the Philippines, only OMR will be used.&quot;Ito kasi ang nangyari, na yung mga machines both have, all, each of the machines have both systems but they will not be turned on jointly and combined in some confusing or sinister way. Instead, ang nangyari na pareho kasi ang presyo ng DRE at OMR. Sa totoo lang, yung DRE na gamit na rin sa Maguindanao noong 2008, mas advanced sana yung DRE kasi maganda nga yung touchscreen. Kaso nga lang, abala yung Comelec sa dinami-dami ng ating botante baka mag-bog down or mahirapan kaya yung OMR na pareho sana ang presyo, eh mas low tech, yun na lang gagamitin sa lokal pagkat napakarami na ng botante natin,” Marcos said. &quot;If I may explain further, the DRE system seemed ideal for overseas voting because it would eliminate the deployment of more personnel and the printing costs for these 17 posts abroad. So the DRE was seen to be the more practical option. Doon lang sa 17 posts. Otherwise, lahat ay babagsak sa OMR para makasigurado tayo.&quot;&quot;So sana pala, good sponsor, nag-lease na lang tayo ng 17 DRE machines at the rest, kung ilang libo, ili-lease natin na OMR. Baka lumabas pang mas mura kaysa may karamihan tayo ng mga combined OMR-DRE machines na hindi naman gagamitin dito sa local precincts natin. Syempre kung bumili tayo ng ref, mas mura yun kesa bumili tayo ng ref combined with freezer, good sponsor, to use a very low-tech parallel or example,” Hontiveros said.Marcos, however, indicated it wouldn&#x27;t have made a difference.&quot;I think the question never arose because all the machines contained both DRE and OMR. There was no additional cost for having two options. Parang dual SIM sa ating cellphone. Pag bumili ka ng cellphone ngayon, talagang dual SIM kahit gagamitin mo, iisang SIM card lang,” Marcos said.&quot;Well, now, how can we know na good sponsor na hindi naging mas mura kung mas maraming OMR ang ili-lease, then 17 ang DRE na ili-lease. In fact, I don&#x27;t think it&#x27;s been adequately explained why this contract is so expensive. Considering po, ili-lease lang po natin yung mga makina, di naman natin sila bibilihin outright, at yung lease ay para sa isang election cycle lamang, good sponsor,” Hontiveros said.Marcos insisted that the Comelec generated savings, but Hontiveros is unconvinced.&quot;If truth be told, the prices have been brought down, the individual machines costing 149,000, at kung tutuusin, nakatipid ang Comelec ng malaking halaga, ang halaga ng 800 million. Malaking tipid to kahit dalawa ang option ng DRE at OMR,” Marcos said.&quot;Gayunpaman, good sponsor. Sa iisang eleksyon lamang, lease lamang, ito 18-19 billion ang gagastusin natin. Kumpara sa kombinasyon ng lahat ng mga eleksyon in the past one and a half decades, around P21 or P22 billion. So proportionately, talagang ang laki nito. At yung mga yun ay mga biniling mga makina. And yet, proportionately, mas mura,” Hontiveros said.&quot;Palagay ko kailangan tingnan ng isa-isa at himayin yung kontrata kasi naka-bundle po, pati yung printing ng balota, naka-bundle siya sa makina, naka-bundle pati sa ballot box. Lahat yan dinala rito sa Senado. Pinakita nila at iisang kontrata. Kaya nga, mukhang malaking-malaki pero napakaraming sangkap niyan,” Marcos said. &quot;Pag binili, P155,000 ang binayaran natin nasa 15 billion. So, malaking tinipid, isa. Ikalawa, nagbabago kasi ang teknolohiya, kaya nakita natin sa experience natin sa Smartmatic, kada eleksyon, nalalaos, nabubulok yung dating makina. Kaya hindi magandang bibili, mas maganda yung naa-updated, at nagde-deliver ng bago yung supplier.&quot;&quot;So, mahal talaga itong mga makina, good sponsor. Kasi kung sa halip ay binili natin, magkakahalagang P15 billion or a little less than 60% nung kabuuang 22 billion na ginastos natin sa pagbili rin sa nakaraang isa&#x27;t kalahating dekada. So more or less 60% for one election, what we had spent for the past one and a half decades of elections here in the Philippines. So mahal talaga yung makina, nili-lease man natin ngayon, or kung sakaling ibinili natin,&quot; Hontiveros said.Marcos explained there are other costs that bring up the total expense by buying compared to merely leasing.&quot;Yun ang ating dati iniisip, ano, na bakit uupa samantalang pwede nang bilhin, atin na yun, hindi na problema. Pero nakita natin sa ating karanasan sa Smartmatic at sa mga dating makina, meron pang warehousing, meron pang repair and refurbishment. Pagkatapos, ang bilis mabulok eh dahil alam naman natin kada tatlong taon, napakabago na naman ng teknolohiya, nagbago na sa anim na buwan. So bulok na talaga at hindi na magamit yung mga nabili natin. Kaya ang pakiwari ng ating komisyon, imbes na bibili, mangupa na lang tapos wala ka pang gastos sa warehousing, sa bodega, sa refurbishing, sa repair, sa tao. Tapos updated pa yung teknolohiya ninyo. Hindi kayo na-stock up dun sa luma,” Marcos said.&quot;As a matter of fact, the allegation that they were still under warranty was wrong. Firstly, the warranty was a very limited warranty to parts and service only for three subsequent elections. Nag-expire na yung warranty in effect 2024, samantalang election natin ay 2025. So yun ang problema at idineklara ng unserviceable yung ating mga VCM. Kaya&#x27;t sinabi na ng Commission sa kanilang isa pang minute resolution na yung mga machines have already fully reached their economic useful life and are thus unserviceable,” Marcos added.Hontiveros also flagged the award of the contract after the formation of the joint venture led by poll automation contractor Miru.Marcos explained that this is actually allowed under existing rules.&quot;Tama po. Pero ganun pa man, kung totoo man yun, ang requirement lang kasi sa terms of reference, as I said, was the potential JV, the possibility of a partnership being formed. And once they were awarded the contract, only then would a formal JV agreement be submitted. As stated earlier, kung minsan kasi ganyan talaga yung malalaking kontrata, magaambag-ambag yung iba&#x27;t ibang mga sosyo, tapos magpapalit ng sosyo, kaya pag na-award na yung kontrata, tsaka nalang nga rin ay required na talagang maliwanag na maliwanag kung sino talaga ang mga sosyo,” Marcos said.&quot;Good sponsor. Paano lalahok sa bidding yung para sa proyekto in the first place ang isang Miru JV kung potential JV lang siya at that point in time? Totoong Comelec ang kausap nila, hindi potential Comelec lang. Paano maga-award ng contract sa isang JV na potential pa lang hindi pa natin sigurado kung talagang magbubuo sila, may NFCC sila, may track record silang mapagkakatiwalaan at hindi dubious, hindi nagpapahiram ng credentials nila sa unqualified entities, kaharap ng isang constitutional body na magpapatakbo ng isang napaka-importanteng proseso. Hindi po rin maipaliwanag yung baliktad, yung sequence of events, at yung qualification ng other party at the table across Comelec para ma-awardan ng kontratang yan on that date, good sponsor,” Hontiveros said.&quot;If I may read from the standard DBM-GPPB requirements for standard documents for bidding, it&#x27;s consistent with the terms of reference. It&#x27;s very clear. Either a duly signed JV should be presented, or, and this is where the argument enters, duly notarized statements from all potential joint venture partners stating they will enter into and abide by the provisions of the JVA in the instance that the bid is successful. So, klaro na talagang ibibigay lang yung pormal na JVA pag nanalo na sila. Pagkatapos, maliwanag pa rito, may attachment pa per Annex F of Section 9 bidding forms. So, may klarong bidding form siya na binibigay para rito at ito ay nakasaad sa GPPB ng ating DBM, maliban pa dun sa terms of reference ng ating komisyon,” Marcos said.Hontiveros insisted that an actual joint venture is what is required.&quot;Dahil, dun nga po sa Section 23.6 ng RA 9184, part ng eligibility for procurement requires, as part of Class B documents a valid, not potential, a valid JV agreement. So, paano natin ito i-reconcile sa TOR ng Comelec, good sponsor?&quot; Hontiveros said.&quot;Yes, I think there is nothing to reconcile. Both provisions are consistent. The eligibility to the TWG of the Comelec was unanimous in voting and no reasonable cause to investigate, doubt, or go beyond the information already provided by the potential partners was found. So there was no reasonable cause to suspect that these bidders should be disqualified or rendered ineligible,” Marcos said.&quot;Hindi ko pa rin makita, good sponsor, paano natin ire-reconcile ito? Kasi may section nga sa RA 9184, ang requirement ay valid, hindi potential,” Hontiveros said.&quot;Of course, good sponsor, with all due respect to the Comelec and the COA, it still stands na yung text nitong section 23.6 speaks about a valid JV agreement and only a valid JV agreement, hindi valid JV agreement or potential JV tulad sa TOR ng Comelec. So that issue, at least for this representation, will have to stand in this afternoon&#x27;s interpellation na unresolved. And in fact, good sponsor, if you&#x27;re not eligible, paano ka pwedeng even mag-bid in the first place, Mr. President?&quot; Hontiveros said.&quot;I think that in the reading of this IRR 23.6 speaks of eligibility. We should really look at 23.1 which explicitly governs JVs. So maliwanag dyan that the duly notarized statements from all potential joint venture partners should be included in the bid and that they will be used in the event that the bid is in fact successful and the award is granted. So, maliwanag talaga na ito yung Class B document na sinasaad sa IRR,” Marcos said.

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros flagged the huge expense the Commission on Elections incurred in leasing, instead of buying new vote counting machines for the May 2025 National and Local Elections.

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros flagged the huge expense the Commission on Elections incurred in leasing, instead of buying new vote counting machines for the May 2025 National and Local Elections.

Hontiveros flags Comelec's leasing expense on poll automation

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Hontiveros flags Comelec's leasing expense on poll automation

RG Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

Published November 18, 2024 07:36 PM PHT

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Senate

Comelec

Commission on Elections

poll automation

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