For the supply and printing of official
ballots for the 2013 elections, the Comelec upheld the awarding of
the contract to the Holy Family Printing Corp. (HFPC) and Canon
Marketing Philippines by the National Printing Office (NPO).
NPO was criticized by other suppliers, Smartmatic-TIM Corp. and ePDS
(a consortium of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, PLDT)
for awarding the contract to HFPC despite the latter’s alleged false
declaration of its single largest contract during the opening of
bids. The suppliers, particularly Snartmatic-TIM, also lambasted NPO
for awarding HFPC the contract in spite of the negative result of
the sample ballot test.
Comelec, on the other hand, said that there are no irregularities
with NPO’s procurement process, from the bidding up to the awarding
of the contract. The poll body further affirmed that the NPO ballot
test yielded a positive result. Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez
stressed that they are allowing the NPO, being the expert, to take
charge in the printing of ballots. Should issues be encountered in
relation to the official ballots, the poll body will then
“intervene,” he added.
(Various news sources) |
