A Commission on Audit (COA) report
released last week showed that the company that supplied the
Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines in the 2010 elections
was paid excessively. Smartmatic International Corp. was awarded a
contract worth Php 526.62 million for the delivery and transport of
ballot boxes.
COA said that the Comelec paid a lump sum of Php 519.02 million for
the transport and delivery of 77,000 ballot boxes all over the
country for the 2010 general elections, or Php 6,740.52 for each
ballot box. For the November 2010 special elections in Bulacan and
selected areas in Mindanao, Smartmatic was paid Php 7.6 million to
transport 700 ballot boxes, or an amount of Php 10,857.14 for each.
The audit body pointed out that there was an increase in the
delivery charge from Php 6,740.52 in the first contract to Php
10,857.14 in the succeeding contract. It further added that “the
document furnished discloses only a total of 76,977 pieces
distributed,” as against 77, 630 pieces bought; the 653-piece
difference remains unaccounted for. COA required the Comelec’s
Shipping and Packing Committee to submit a report on the allocation
of ballot boxes for the 2010 polls.
The COA also asked the poll body to review the contracts awarded to
Smartmatic for the transport of the ballot boxes for being
“excessive.” In 2010, Comelec conducted a bidding for the forwarding
of accountable and non-accountable forms used in the 2010 barangay
and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections. The approved budget for the
forwarding service was Php 230,731,025.52. (Read the Comelec
Invitation to Bid here:
http://bit.ly/qKy2U4)
(Sources: Manila Times, Comelec)
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