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Whistle blower: Probe indelible ink bidding too


First were the ballot secrecy folders, next the UV lamps, now the indelible ink? The whistleblower in the scrapped P690-million ballot folder contract on Friday said that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should also investigate the "irregularities" in the bidding of the indelible ink that will be used in the May polls. Dr. Arwin Serrano, who represents the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) in the Comelec Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), said he wants the poll body to look into alleged irregularities in the procurement of 720,000 bottles of indelible ink.

Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) representative Dr. Arwin Serrano says that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should also look into the bidding of the indelible ink to be used in May. Kim Tan
He said that there were initially two bidders for the order. After some screenings, one of them was disqualified, leaving supplier Texas Resources Corporation as the sole bidder for the deal. But when the BAC tested a sample of the sole bidder’s ink, Serrano said, the product reportedly failed. Serrano said the ink easily washed off and the mark left by it only appeared after a few hours had passed. "I believe during my presence, that particular sample of indelible ink really failed... not even one present sa BAC na nagsabi na pumasa (at the BAC said that the ink passed)," he told reporters in an interview. The poll body had required at least a seven-percent concentration of silver nitrate in the indelible ink so that it won't wash off easily. Despite the failed test, the PPCRV representative said the BAC did not conduct a re-bid of the product and instead conducted a second testing of Texas' product. He said he has yet to receive a copy of the test results of the second trial. Section 35 of the Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act says that in case of a failed bidding, the contract should be re-advertised and re-bidded. "Pag fail, fail. Mag-rebid na lang ulit. Pero ang ginawa, nag-retest (If it's failed, it should be failed. They should have rebid. But what they did was a retest)," said Serrano. Comelec records show that the poll body has allotted P77 million for the procurement of the indelible inks. But Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal told GMANews.TV in a text message that the contract for the indelible ink has not been awarded yet. Commissioner Rene Sarmiento likewise said that the re-testing of Texas' ink was ordered by the Comelec en banc in a formal resolution. It was Serrano who wrote to Comelec Law Department head Ferdinand Rafanan about the "irregularities" in the controversial P690-million contract with OTC Paper Supply for the purchase and delivery of 1,815,000 pieces of 25-inch long ballot secrecy folders priced at P380 each. The poll body later on scrapped the ballot folder contract for supposedly being too “extravagant," and decided to create a three-member panel to look into the recommendation of the BAC to award the contract to OTC. —JV, GMANews.TV
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