Monday, May 12, 2008 Mitra questions faulty e-voting system
THE head of House special committee on reforms wants former Speaker Jose de Venecia to explain why the P15-million worth electronic voting system installed during his term is not working.
"They should explain why until now, the apparatus is still not functioning," Palawan Representative Kahlil Abraham Mitra said.
House Speaker Prospero Nograles raised the possibility of scrapping the P15-million worth biometric electronic voting system project.
"We will junk it if its does not work. How can we use something that does not function?" he said.
The electronic counting was de Venecia's flagship project until he was ousted last February amid his differences with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo over the anomalous US$329 million national broadband network (NBN) with China's ZTE Corp.
The former speaker has said the e- legislation project could diminish the chronic problem of absenteeism because the apparatus requires the lawmakers to register their thumbprints every session day.
Infobahn Communications Incorporated owned by its president, Joel John Bautista, won the project in a bidding process last December 11.
Infobahn account manager Mark Asuncion has said the other two bidders in the project withdrew because the House' budget was too low but they cornered the deal for their good offer, including the replacement of the plenary carpet.
The installation of an electronic voting device, the renovation of the plenary hall and the procurement of HP laptop computers for each congressman cost the government from P25 million to P30 million.
This means taxpayers will spend an estimated P127,000 for each 235 congressman to accord them with a state-of-the-art computerized voting system and a classy session hall.
Mitra, the one tasked by Speaker Nograles to study and recommend various proposals to improve the image of the House, raised concern over the lingering problem of absence of a quorum during session days.
"We owe it to the people to make sure that every penny they spend on us is worth it," he said.
Mitra, a son of the late former speaker Ramon Mitra, said he would rise to ventilate the issue on the floor.
Last week, Camiguin Representative Pedro Romualdo, chairman of the committee on good government, proposed a lockdown of the session hall doors to prevent congressmen from leaving after the roll call every 4:00 p.m. to indulge in other activities which include bantering at the South Lounge where they are served with catered food.
Romualdo, a de Venecia ally, made the proposal after the House continued to fail to approve on second reading important measures -- including the bill increasing the tax exemption of minimum wage earner -- due to lack of quorum.
While he admitted that his leadership is still trying to gain headway in its reform agenda, Nograles said, "It doesn't have to come down to the point of padlocking the session hall to ensure quorum."
The Speaker said starting this week, the roll call will be done twice, one in the afternoon and another in the evening, to see to it that congressmen will not leave the plenary right after the first roll call.
Nograles said the "double roll call" was proposed by Majority Leader Arthur Defensor and other deputy majority leaders when they started to notice the dwindling number of congressmen after 6:30 p.m.
"I'm also disappointed because we have already improved our quorum shortly after I assumed speakership but the problem is creeping back. I want to fast-track the approval of these measures to provide immediate relief to our people," he said. (WV/Sunnex)
