MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc has approved the recommendation to issue a Notice of Award to the joint venture Ione Resources, Inc. to supply the Secure Electronic Transmission Services (SETs) for the 2025 midterm elections.

The poll body made the announcement on Monday night.

Under the SETs, electronic results of the elections will be sent from the automated counting machines (ACM) directly to the consolidation and canvassing systems, the National Board of Canvassers, and data centers, which will be accessible to different stakeholders such as Comelec, the dominant majority and minority party, accredited citizen’s arms, and the media.

Two companies were declared eligible for the project—Ione and Ebizolution, Inc. The former advanced to the post-qualification evaluation after submitting a total bid of P1.4 billion, which was lower than the P1.64 billion allotted by Comelec. Ebizolution submitted a bid worth P1.63 billion.

After the post-qualification phase, the Special Bids and Awards Committee recommended the awarding of the contract to Ione.

A formal contract signing is expected in the coming days.