Ex-justices eyed to review P11.3-B poll automation deal

MANILA, Philippines - Retired magistrates from the Supreme Court will be tapped to review the multi-billion poll automation contract for next year’s elections before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) awards it to the winning bidder. Chairman Jose Melo on Wednesday said he made this recommendation to the Comelec en banc "to protect the integrity of the whole process." "I recommended to the commission en banc to have this contract reviewed by former justices," he said, adding that the contract would be signed only after the review. Melo did not identify the retired justices being eyed to review the P11.3-billion contract, but said they would be given honoraria to compensate their efforts. He said the funds would come from the fees collected from the payments of the terms of reference (TOR), which the bidders purchased prior to the official conduct of the bidding process last month. On the days leading to the 2004 presidential elections, the Supreme Court nullified a P1.3-billion automation contract between the Comelec and the Mega-Pacific Solution after finding it "disadvantageous to the government." The decision stemmed from a petition filed by the Information Technology Foundations of the Philippines (ITFP). On Tuesday, Ferdinand Rafanan, the head of the poll body’s bidding and awards committee, declared the consortium of Smartmatic and Total Information Management (TIM) Inc. as the “virtual winner" in the bidding process. Melo said it is unlikely that the Comelec en banc would deny the recommendation to award the contract to Smartmatic/TIM. "It’s practically nill because everybody wants automation and here we are, we already have a winning bidder," he said. - GMANews.TV