DBM gives nod to P867-M automated ARMM elections
By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 17:16:00 02/13/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has issued the special allotment release order (SARO), giving the Commission on Elections (Comelec) the go-signal to spend about P867 million for the automation of the elections in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, a spokesperson of the Comelec said.
Comelec is scheduled to release the request for proposals (RFP) Thursday, February 14, said James Jimenez, Comelec spokesperson, in an interview.
The release of the RFP initiates the government bidding process, as required by the government procurement law
The SARO is an order to authorize the poll body to spend funds allocated under the General Appropriations Act of 2008 for the poll body. A staff at the office of the DBM Secretary confirmed that the SARO was issued Tuesday.
"The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) yesterday, 12 February 2008, issued the Special Allocation Release Order (SARO) for the automation of the August 11, 2008 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The SARO was for the amount of PhP 867,329,000.00," Jimenez said in a statement.
"In honor of that day (February 14), we are considering having the Requests for Proposal bound in red," Jimenez said.
Comelec has also released the schedule for the bidding.
Publication of the invitation to bid will be made from February 14 to 16, 2008. A pre-bid conference is scheduled on February 25, 2008, 10:00 a.m., with the deadline of submission of bids set for March 10, 2008, 10:00 a.m.
The opening bids will also be accepted on March 10, 2008.
The Comelec en banc, in a resolution last week, announced that it has accepted the recommendations of an advisory council led by the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT).
The recommendations include the use of two technologies in the ARMM elections: the direct recording electronic (DRE) technology and the optical mark-reader (OMR).
DRE uses a touch-screen or touch-pad technology for voting, while OMR requires voters to fill up a paper-based ballot which is fed to a specially designed machine, similar to a scanner.
The Comelec en banc, however, has decided to use the DRE technology for the whole province of Maguindanao, which was contrary to the advisory council's recommendation which limited the use of DRE in two cities or municipalities.
The advisory council has recommended the DRE technology in two cities or municipalities.
Jimenez said the Comelec en banc decided to use the DRE for the whole province of Maguindanao to test the technology in time for the 2010 elections. The ARMM automated polls is a test pilot leading to the 2010 presidential elections, the Comelec spokesperson said.
"The RFP for the automation of the ARMM elections was drafted in close coordination with the Advisory Council and bears the Council's stamp of approval," Jimenez said.
The advisory council is the body of expert advisers created under Republic Act 9369. It is a body tasked to recommend to the Comelec which technology to use for the automation of elections.
Members include the Chairman of the Commission on Information Communication Technology, representatives from the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Education, a representative from the academe, representatives from IT professional organizations and from non-governmental electoral reform organizations.
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