MANILA -- The P11.3-billion project to automate next year’s elections is back on track, just days after the winning bidders threatened to walk out on the deal.

“We were able to thresh out everything,” Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo said after a three-hour meeting Friday with officials of Smartmatic and Total Information Management (TIM) in the commission’s main office in Intramuros, Manila.

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The companies signed incorporation papers and the joint venture agreement, Melo said.

He said the Comelec expects the contract with the joint venture company to be signed on July 10, after Smartmatic and TIM file their joint venture incorporation papers early next week before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“We are back to automation,” he said.

The agreement, explained Melo, holds both parties liable in case another “internal” problem crops up.

The consortium will provide 82,200 computerized counting machines to speed up the results to two days, instead of several weeks under the current manual system.

Welcome

Malacañang welcomed the settlement between Smartmatic and TIM, hoping that it would be the last obstacle to the automation of the 2010 elections.

Presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio said everyone can now heave a “big sigh of relief” as they congratulate the Comelec and the two companies for settling their differences and eventually “hurdling hopefully the last major obstacle to the full automation of next year's polls.”

“We hope that they will establish effective teamwork not only among themselves but also with election watchdog groups, media and the electorate themselves in ensuring orderly, honest and credible modernized elections,” he said.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the Palace remains supportive of the actions and decisions of the Comelec, and the important thing for them is the elections would proceed whether with or without a full automation.

“The elections will push through. And no matter what form it may take, the elections must always be safeguarded by our people, as their birthright in a democracy,” he added.

This was also the assurance that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo made when she issued her Philippine-American Friendship Day message, claiming that one of the values the country share with the United States is the “fierce commitment to electoral democracy and the institution of suffrage.”

Arroyo, in a statement read by Remonde, said the elections must also proceed and upheld, and the ballot cast must be protected.

Unlikely

Election officials in Cebu, however, said that even if poll automation pushes through, a dry run on the automated counting machines, while necessary, would be unlikely.

The lack of time to test the counting machines could prove a problem, said Comelec-Central Visayas Assistant Regional Director Veronico Petalcorin.

Without a dry run on the use of the counting machines, Petalcorin said, technical problems such as computer glitches could spell trouble for the elections next year.

Early testing of the counting machines could allow poll watchers to trouble-shoot for possible software or hardware problems.

However, Petalcorin said that if Comelec is willing to devote enough time and manpower, this may help alleviate the problems expected in the shift to automation.

No-el

Claudio, meanwhile, allayed fears of a no-election (no-el) scenario, assuring that it is “remote” and “extremely unacceptable” even for the administration.

He said United States Ambassador Kristie Kenney was merely expressing her support for the conduct of elections next year, which Malacañang deems as “sacred” and is “determined” to observe.

“We appreciate the US support for our democratic traditions and institutions. The US, other foreign allies and especially the Filipino people can be assured that elections will be held as scheduled in May next year,” he said.

He said the non-conduct of polls next year would demean the country’s democratic traditions, deprive the electorate of their basic right, and shame the Philippines before the international community.

The official added that with the support of a responsible and watchful citizenry, the Arroyo government assures that it would do everything within its power to ensure not just the conduct of elections next year “but that they are held in an efficient, honest, and credible manner.” 

Kenney, during the Fourth of July celebrations at the US Embassy, said the non-conduct of elections next year will be a cause for concern for her government as they view elections as a way of renewing democracy.

Fears of a no-election scenario stemmed from Congress efforts to amend the Constitution and the planned withdrawal of a local company, tapped to undertake the automation of next year’s polls, from the project. (Sunnex/With JKV of Sun.Star Cebu)