Comelec disqualifies six out of seven bidders for poll automation project

May 7, 2009 3:08 am

By Ferdinand G. Patinio

MANILA, May 6 — It’s down to one from the original seven bidders.

This after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) disqualified six companies for their failure to present pertinent documents during the opening of bids in connection with the P11.2-billion contract for the automation of the 2010 elections.

The latest companies that were declared ineligible were Amalgamated Metro Philippines/Syrex Incorporation/Anishin, Inc. and AMA group of companies/Election System and Software.

According to the Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) Syrex failed to present its Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration, while AMA did not submit its license to import.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Jose Melo said that they are a little concern on what is happening on the opening of the bids since the committee has disqualified six out of the seven companies that participated in the first round of the bidding.

“We are a little bit worried,” he said.

But SBAC chairman Atty. Ferdinand Rafanan stressed that they would not declare failure of bidding even if the majority of the companies have been disqualified since there is still one bidder left.

“May isa pang company ang natira. Hindi puedeng mag-declare na failed bidding dahil puede pa silang mag-file ng motion for reconsideration,” Rafanan explained.

The excluded companies have three days upon the receipt of the disqualification order to file their appeal while the SBAC has seven days to come up with its decision.

As of press time, the committee was scrutinizing the documents submitted by Gilat/F.F. Cruz and Company Inc./Filipinas System Inc.

On Monday, Avante International (Canon Marketing Phils./Netnode Technologies/DB Vizards/Creative Point) and Indra Sistemas (Strategic Holdings Inc./Hart Intercivic) were excluded by the panel for failing to submit their Certificate of Acceptance and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Certification, respectively.

For failing to submit their Certificate of Accreditation as Importer and ISO 9000 Certification, respectively, Sequoia Voting Systems and Universal Storefront Services, and Smartmatic/Total Information Management Corp. were also disqualified last Tuesday.

The companies originally pre-qualified for the contract that would automate the national and local elections in 2010 through the new technology, Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS). (PNA)

 

Source: Balita.ph (http://balita.ph/2009/05/07/comelec-disqualifies-six-out-of-seven-bidders-for-poll-automation-project/)

365 Days Concert on May 11, 2009, Music Museum

Dear Friends,

On behalf of the Movement for Good Governance, may I invite you to a concert on Monday, May 11, 2009 at 8:00 pm at the Music Museum to raise awareness and funds for the 2010 elections and beyond. Entitled 365 Days to Change – Todo na ‘to, the concert marks off exactly one year left to a very important Presidential and General Election for the country. MGG has teamed up with ArtistsRevolution, a group of concerned artists, musicians, cmposers, singers, and directors, to help raise awraeness about the importance of these elections to good governance.

MGG was launched last year and is a group dedicated to promoting good governance. It’s initial activities are focused on voter registration and education (in partnership with Youth Vote Philippines and Young Public Servants); election automation, selection criteria and scorecards for candidates, and town hall meetings with candidates on specific public policy issues Proceeds of the concert will go towards funding communication efforts and workshops of both MGG and ArtistsRevolution to enable us to reach more people in voter education programs.

For the concert, ArtistsRevolution has brought together a wonderful cast composed of Juana Change, Jim Paredes, Joey Ayala, Isay Alvarez, Robert Sena, Leah Navarro, Radioactive Sago, and many others to bring to you a show that promises to be entertaining, educational, and thought-provoking, all at the same time. Ticket prices are available at P500 P1000, P2000, P3000, P4500, and P6000. If you would like to buy tickets and donate them to students, that would be great too. For tickets and inquiries please email yvotephilippines@gmail.com or wedeservebetterph@gmail.com

Thank you!

Best regards,
Ching

COMELEC Office Closed on a Weekday

Sharing this post from Ralph of AYLA… kindly pass and also give feedback, reports if similar incidents are happening in your areas this summer. So we can see how to best address such unfortunate incidents. Lets get the youth and young professionals to register this summer. Thanks much. -Tanya

“I was so happy that the top management of our company has been very
supportive of the ongoing campaign of Ayala Young Leaders Alliance
advocating voters’ registration. We, the employees are entitled for
one-day leave just to make sure that we are registered in our local
COMELEC office.”

“The COMELEC website has a feature of checking whether an individual is
registered or not. I found out that I am still registered though I
have no records for my biometrics. After office hours yesterday, I
immediately proceed to the bus station for an eight-hour trip to
Mulanay, Quezon Province where I am registered. Aside from seeing my
parents whom I have not seen for months, I was so excited for the trip
to have my biometrics captured and claim my voters ID which I have
been waiting for, for the past elections.”

“Upon arriving at the local COMELEC office at around 10:00 in the
morning, all my excitement faded upon seeing that the said office is
padlocked. My temper escalated upon seeing the long lines of equally
excited youngsters whom I assume are first time voters. Some were even
wearing their PE t-shirts of some Manila schools. What I was not
surprised is that most of them are like me who intend to maximize
their long vacation and placing their registration among their to-do
list.”

“The COMELEC en banc released a resolution stating that their local
offices should be open during Saturdays and holidays. Today is
Wednesday and apparently not a holiday yet. Since no one was around to
check if the office will still open, I rushed to the office beside
COMELEC to inquire. Only to know the worst – the said office is closed
since yesterday.”

“I believe that all our efforts in the Ayala Young Leaders Alliance and
Youth Vote Philippines should by all means be given equal effort and
commitment from the COMELEC. What is it for those young men and women
behind the advocacy of promoting voters registration only to be given
this inattention from the very institution which should be the prime
mover of citizen participation in the electoral process? What is to be
expected from our campaign of getting as many youth as possible to
register if our target individuals will only encounter padlocked
COMELEC office with no single personnel around especially during the
very rare chances that they can spare time to exercise their duties as
citizens?”

“Do not blame the youth for being so-called apathetic. Apathy is a
result of outright incompetence of most of our public servants. Among
the youth, most of us are doing our share. It’s just that more often
than not, we do not receive the expected effectiveness from those in
the bureaucracy.”

“Given the average turnout of registration, it will not be an
astounding possibility to deprive hundreds of thousands if not
millions of voters. The deadline for the registration is cut short
from December 15 to October 31, 2009 in order to prepare for poll
automation, as reported. Such directive poses the possibility of
significantly decreasing the number of potential first time voters,
unreasonable closing of COMELEC offices aggravates the saddening
scenario.”

“In the 2007 senatorial elections, around 6.4 million potential voters
were not registered. This number has significantly increased for the
2010 presidential elections.”

“We can recall the outcome of the past elections where the winners of
national elective positions have a margin of less than a million.
Assuming without conceding that there were no (massive) cheating,
imagine the difference that the votes of those who were unable to
register could have affected the final tallies. Bottomline – the
impact of the evident disregard of this very office to their mandate
definitely affect the outcome of the elections and the impression of
the public of the worth of exercising their rights and duties as
citizens.”

“We appeal for immediate actions from the Commission on Elections. No
more excuses please. We are all tired to hear the seemingly endless
explanations trying to sew the loopholes in the systems the same
commission are implementing. We are doing giving our contributions.
We, the public, deserve no less.“

Ralph Reuben C. Morales
Ayala Young Leader batch 2004
Senior Development Specialist
AYLC Alumni and External Affairs
Youth Leadership Development Unit

Ayala Foundation, Inc.
10/F BPI Main Building, 6768 Ayala Avenue
corner Paseo de Roxas, Makati City

Email ralph.morales@ayalayoungleaders.ph |
Web http://www.ayalayoungleaders.ph