WITH the only two bidders both declared as “ineligible,” the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday declared a failure of bidding for the Online Voting and Counting System (OVCS) project for the 2025 overseas voting.
The Comelec – Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) said “Indra Soluciones Technologias de la Information” was declared ineligible due to its non-compliant Net Financial Contracting Capacity (NFCC), its failure to submit the credentials of its third-party certifier and the certification of the final version of its system, incomplete change management plan, incomplete submission of its Standard of Audits; failure to include scope, required conduct, demands upon project personnel, demands upon the Comelec personnel and outputs in its bidding documents; non-compliant brochure for printer, and failure to submit a demo unit version of the solution they are offering in a compact disk or USB flash drive.
On the other hand, the SBAC said it found the “We Are IT Philippines, Inc.” ineligible because of its non-compliant Statement of Single Largest Completed Contract (SLCC), its failure to submit proof or any documentary evidence/s that it legally owns an internet/online voting system; failure to submit brochure (original or internet download), Technical Data Sheet, and/or equivalent document as proof of compliance to the technical specifications for printer; and incomplete statement of all on-going contracts.
“In view thereof, considering that both bidders have been declared ineligible, the SBAC hereby declares a failure of bidding for the first round of competitive public bidding,” announced SBAC chairman Allen Francis Abaya.
In an interview, Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said the grounds for their ineligibility can be easily corrected.
“These are actually mere documentary requirements that they need to comply with. We believe they can comply if they are able to fix these requirements,” he said.
Laudiangco said the public bidding process does not provide any room for discretion. “The criteria we are using is the non-discretionary pass-fail. It is that simple. We cannot exercise discretion,” he said.
With the failed bidding for the OVCS, Laudiangco said they will now prepare for a second round of public bidding.
AES BIDDING
Meanwhile, Comelec chairman George Garcia said the poll body will decide within the week if South Korean-firm Miru Systems will be declared the winning bidder for the Full Automation System with Transparency Audit/Count (FASTrAC) project or not.
In a press conference after the end-to-end demonstration of Miru, Garcia said the Commission en banc is set to come out with the decision on the SBAC recommendation on the P18.8 billion contract “within the week.”
“Until now, the Commission does not have a decision yet on what we shall do with the lone bidder in our machine procurement. We have yet to make an award. It is still under deliberation,” said Garcia, adding: “We are now reviewing the recommendations of the SBAC submitted last Friday. More or less, you can expect that the Comelec en banc will be able to make a decision within this week.”
“To be more direct, you will know within this week if we will give the project to the lone bidder or not based on the evaluations we had and other issues,” said Garcia.
The poll chief said that if Comelec decides to award the FASTrAC project to Miru, they can already start with the contract negotiations.
On the other hand, if the project is not given to Miru, Garcia said the poll body will conduct a negotiated bidding for the project.
Garcia refused to provide details of the SBAC recommendations but stressed that the Commission en banc can opt to disregard it.
“The SBAC is only recommendatory. The en banc is the head of procuring entity. We cannot rely solely on the documents submitted by SBAC,” he explained.
During yesterday’s demonstration, the Comelec head said they were surprised that a large majority of specifications they placed in the Terms of Reference (TOR) have been met by Miru. “We weren’t actually expecting that those in our ‘wish list,’ more or less, are present in this demonstration,” said Garcia.
He, however, stressed that the technical capabilities of the system of Miru is not the sole basis of their decision.
