Firm linked to alleged overpriced folders may supply UV lamps

The company linked to the allegedly overpriced ballot secrecy folders for the May polls might also end up providing ultraviolet (UV) lamps to check ballots’ authenticity in the coming elections, a poll watchdog said Wednesday. One Time Carbon (OTC) Paper Supply also gave the lowest bid for the supply of P30-million worth of UV lamps to manually verify ballots on election day, Dr. Arwin Serrano of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) told GMA News. OTC Paper Supply’s contract to provide more than 1.8 million ballot secrecy folders for the May polls was scrapped on Monday after the Commission on Elections discovered that the purchase price of P380 per folder is “extravagant beyond ordinary needs." However, lawyer Lea Alarkon of the Comelec Bids and Awards Committee said that the company is not yet the winning bidder for the supply of the lamps. She also confirmed to GMA News that OTC Paper Supply gave the lowest bid for the UV lamps. “The BAC will see who the lowest qualified bidder is. The one with the lowest calculated and responsive bid will be recommended for award," she said in Filipino in a GMA News report. OTC Paper Supply owner Henry Young also denied winning the contract for the lamps, according to the GMA News report. Meanwhile, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said that OTC Paper Supply is still eligible to participate in the bidding for the UV lamps, since the poll body’s resolution canceling the contract for the ballot secrecy folder did not ban the company from participating in future biddings. “The resolution did not prohibit them from joining other bids. If people have questions, they can come to us and we will answer their questions," he said in a separate GMA News interview. UV lamps will be used on election day to manually check whether ballots are true and genuine after UV markings on the paper ballots have moved out of alignment while being printed, the Comelec earlier said. Ramon Casiple, a member of the Comelec’s Advisory Council for the upcoming polls, said that the verification of UV markings on ballots will go from automated to manual since Smartmatic-TIM failed to supply correct ink for UV security markings. Smartmatic, which supplied automated voting equipment for the May polls, denied having any problems with the ink used in the UV markings. - Andreo C. Calonzo, GMANews.TV