Chiz says Comelec in denial, urges poll body to prepare Plan B

Opposition Sen. Chiz Escudero yesterday said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should prepare a quick transition to its alternative plan for the 2010 polls after the poll body failed to meet its self-imposed deadline on the awarding of the P11-billion automation project.

"The Comelec is clearly now in denial. I implore them to come to their senses now and prepare their Plan B," he said in a statement.

"I fear what else their ad hoc ways may bring. Before it's too late, I hope they will have the courage to admit that a full implementation of poll automation is not possible at this time," said Escudero, who co-chairs the congressional oversight committee on poll automation.

On Monday, the Comelec pushed forward to mid-June the possible awarding of the poll automation contract after it reconsidered the bid of AMA Group of Holdings, Inc. and Election Software and Systems - the lone rival of Smartmatic International and Total Information Management Corp.

Comelec Special Bids and Awards Committee Chair Ferdinand Rafanan then admitted that they are three weeks behind schedule its original schedule because of the appeals made by disqualified bidders. He said that the poll body failed to consider the time it would spend in considering the appeals.

"To blame the delay on bidders appealing their case is absurd and shows how the Comelec has utterly failed to do its homework," Escudero said.

"Now Chairman Melo could be having nightmares, and rightfully so, because what is at stake is the fate of our democracy," he added.

Escudero also lamented the failure of the poll body to disclose the names of the incorporators of the two remaining bidders for the country's first-ever computerized polls.

He recalled that Comelec chair himself agreed to the release of the documents to the public.

"Let us know who they are now. We cannot afford to have questions on possible conflict of interest situations after the Comelec has awarded the contract to any of the two bidders," Escudero said. The Comelec should have announced the winning bidder last week. By this week, the poll body and the bid winner would have signed the contract.