Invitation to apply for eligibility and to bid for the supply and delivery of registration forms and supplies for the April 1, 2008 resumption of continuing registration of voters
Archive for March, 2008
INVITATION TO APPLY FOR ELIGIBILITY AND TO BID
Sealed applications for eligibility and bid documents for the lease with option to purchase of Optical Mark Readers (OMR), with an integrated Election Management System (EMS), to be used in the Automation of the Voting, Counting, Transmission and Canvassing of Votes for the August 11, 2008 Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Elections, shall be received at the Comelec Session Hall, 8th floor, Palacio del Gobernador, Intramuros, Manila, April 01, 2008 at 10:00 o’clock in the morning, at which place, date and time, said sealed bids shall be opened in the presence of the members of the Bids and Awards Committee, representatives of the Commission on Elections, Commission on Audit, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, the participating bidders and the public, with an Approved Budget of the Contract in the amount of Eighty-Seven Million Five Hundred Nineteen Thousand One Hundred Eighty (PhP87,519,180.00), for lease, and an additional Thirty Seven Million Five Hundred Eight Thousand Two Hundred Twenty Pesos (PhP37,508,220.00) for the option to purchase, for a total amount of One Hundred Twenty-Five Million Twenty-Seven Thousand Four Hundred Pesos (PhP125,027,400.00), charged against the 2008 appropriations for election modernization.
Bid documents may be obtained starting 14 March 2008, during regular office hours, from the BAC Secretariat, Property Division, Administrative Services Department, Ground Floor, Shipping Centre, Andres Soriano Street, Intramuros, Manila upon payment with the Cash Division, in cash or Manager’s/Cashier’s check payable to “The Commission on Elections”, of a non-refundable amount of Twelve Thousand Pesos (PhP12,000.00). A Special Power of Attorney, made and executed by the prospective bidder, shall be required should it assign a representative to secure bid documents.
A Pre-Bid Conference is scheduled on 25 March 2008 at 10:00 o’clock in the morning at the Session Hall, Commission on Elections, 8th Floor, Palacio del Gobernador, Intramuros, Manila.
Bids shall be accompanied by a Bid Security in the amount of PhP One Million Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Two Hundred Seventy Four Pesos (PhP1,250,274.00) in the form of cash or Manager’s/Cashier’s check payable to the “Commission on Elections”.
The delivery schedules are indicated in the General Implementation Calendar, Part IV, Project Relevant Information, of the Terms of Reference/Request for Proposal.
The COMELEC reserves the right to reject any or all bids, waive any formal defect contained therein, and accept the lowest calculated responsive bid that is most advantageous to the Commission. Likewise, it reserves the right to review the qualifications of the bidders after the bidding and before the contract is executed. Should such review uncover any change in the situation of the bidder to materially downgrade the substance of such statements, the COMELEC shall disqualify the bidder upon due notice without any obligation whatsoever on the part of the COMELEC for any expense or loss that may be incurred by the bidder in the preparation of its bid.
March 13, 2008
(Sgd) JOSE M. TOLENTINO, JR.
Executive Director
Comelec Resolution No. 8432
DELETION OF THE NAMES OF VERIFIED DOUBLE / MULTIPLE REGISTRANTS IN THE LIST OF VOTERS FOUND IN THE AUTONOMOUS REGION IN MUSLIM MINDANAO (ARMM)
BIDS FOR ARMM AUTOMATION OPENED
The COMELEC yesterday, 11 March 2008, opened the bids for the automation of the 2008 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), resulting in one bidder being declared eligible and another being disqualified . Only two joint ventures, out of eleven prospective bidders that obtained bid documents, actually participated in the public bidding.
The Smartmatic Sahi Joint Venture successfully complied with the eligibility requirements set out in the Request For Proposal (RFP) and submitted a bid priced below the COMELEC’s approved budget for the contract. “Bidding rules prohibit us from revealing Smartmatic Sahi’s offer until after an award has been made,” COMELEC spokesman James Jimenez explained.
Smartmatic Sahi’s bid was for an electronic voting system using Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) technology.
“After today,” Jimenez added, “the Smartmatic Sahi bid will undergo close scrutiny to ensure that it meets all the COMELEC’s specifications as reflected in the RFP.” Jimenez also said that the demonstration machines submitted by Smartmatic Sahi would be evaluated on Thursday, March 13.
However the other bidder, Sandz Solutions, failed to qualify.
Under bidding rules, a bidder is declared “Failed” if “one or more (of the bidding) requirements is missing, incomplete, or patently insufficient, or if the submitted total price exceeds the approved budget for the contract.” After being informed of deficiencies in its bid submission, a Sandz Sahi representative admitted that their bid did not comply with eight of the requirements.
The COMELEC’s automation plan called for the use of DRE technology in Maguindanao and Optical Mark Reader (OMR) technology for the other five provinces of the ARMM – Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur, and the newly created Shariff Kabunsuan. OMR technology involves the use of paper ballots which are then fed through an automated counting machine.
“With the disqualification of Sandz Solutions, we don’t have an OMR bid now,” Jimenez said. According to Jimenez, only the elections in Maguindanao might be automated unless a re-bidding for an OMR solution is conducted. “If the COMELEC en banc orders a re-bidding, it will only be for an automated counting system using OMRs.” Jimenez indicated that he was optimistic that a re-bidding would be orderd. “ We only have to consider whether , after complying with the required time periods for a bidding, there will still be enough time to implement automation in the rest of the ARMM.’
Comelec Resolution No. 8429
IN THE MATTER OF GROUPING / CLUSTERING OF PRECINCTS FOR PURPOSES OF THE AUGUST 11, 2008 ELECTIONS IN THE AUTONOMOUS REGION IN MUSLIM MINDANAO (ARMM)
