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Wednesday, January 14, 2004
SC scraps contract on poll automation
MANILA -- Leaders of Congress, Malacaņang and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) met Tuesday night to discuss measures to avert a possible constitutional crisis following a Supreme Court ruling nullifying the computerization contract for the May 10 elections.
The Supreme Court voting 9-3-2 last Tuesday ruled that bidding irregularities rendered the P1.7-billion contract awarded to Mega Pacific Consortium to supply 1,991 automated counting machines (ACMs) as null and void.
In the 101-page decision penned by Associate Justice Artemio Panganiban, the Ombudsman was asked to identify who in the Comelec must be held criminally liable for the awarding of the contract to the two firms in the consortium.
The Office of the Solicitor General was also asked to take measures to recover the P800 million initially paid to Mega Pacific for the ACMs.
House Speaker Jose de Venecia, after a meeting Tuesday night with Palace and Comelec officials, said the poll body will file a motion for reconsideration, but at the same time "prepare the ground" for a manual count.
Both President Arroyo and the opposition are against a House bill to postpone the elections from May 10 to 20, warning that this could lead to a power vacuum.
Comelec officials vowed to abide by the SC ruling, but apparently hoping that even if the contract is voided, it could still proceed with the use of the counting machines.
Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos said insisted nothing was illegal with the contract and the ruling did not stop the Comelec from using the machines to count the ballots.
The Comelec reportedly already paid P1.3 billion of the P1.7 billion-contract for the machines.
The ruling does not tell Comelec how the elections should be conducted, only that the contract with Mega Pacific should be scrapped and the initial payments, estimated at P800 million, recovered.
But the Comelec was ordered to refrain from implementing any other contract or agreement entered into with regard to the computerization project.
SC Public Information Office Chief Ismael Khan said the ruling "is silent" on whether the return to a manual count should be adopted by the Comelec.
Blow to electoral process
Guillermo Luz, secretary-general of the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), said the SC's decision "is a major blow to the whole electoral process."
Luz also said the SC's ruling now puts into question the credibility of the commissioners who approved the contract.
"This has placed all of us in some kind of dilemma. This has placed the country in a dilemma and now we have a perception of an election being supervised by criminally-liable ones," said Luz.
Luz said the Namfrel warned the Comelec to be cautious in awarding the contract.
On the other hand, Namfrel chairman Jose Concepcion said the elections in May would following the same pattern of being marred by fraud or it could even be worse as the Comelec would have to go back to manual counting and canvassing.
Concepcion proposed that the President appoint a new set of Comelec officials should the commissioners resign en banc or go on leave following the SC's decision.
He junked suggestions to postpone the elections saying the commission still has 118 days to prepare for the manual counting system.
Abolish Comelec
Presidential aspirant Raul Roco and Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo pushed for the abolition of the Comelec following the SC decision to nullify the computerization contract.
Roco said Comelec lost its credibility in the SC decision. Comelec officials should resign and President Arroyo should appoint new officials who are knowledgeable and credible to perform the job, Roco added.
Both Roco and Ocampo feared massive cheating should Comelec resolve to go back to manual counting considering their lack of preparedness for the May polls.
The Council of Philippine Affairs, on the other hand, asked Comelec officials to resign over the failed process for computerization.
Some senators, on the other hand, said the ruling would be a basis for the impeachment of Comelec officials responsible of the awarding of the contract.
Sen. Sergio Osmeņa III urged the appropriate committee to conduct an investigation and called on Comelec officials to explain how the contract was executed.
"There are a lot of questions the Comelec has to answer in the interest of transparency. Let's give them chance to explain their sides," Osmena said.
But all of the senators said the Comelec officials, who allowed the contract to be push through, should be held liable for the illegal contract.
Senate President Franklin Drilon urged the Comelec not to file motion for reconsideration and instead start preparing for manual counting and canvassing since it has enough time to go back to the old system.
Drilon said the 9-3 vote of the High Court gives the motion of reconsideration nil chances to be reversed.
End, means
While the country needs to transcend "a slow, manual and archaic" electoral process, "it must first have a diligent and competent electoral agency that can properly and prudently implement a well-conceived automated election system," said Panganiban.
The SC stressed that the procurement of the computer systems and the software for an automated election must be done "through a transparent and valid public bidding."
The SC noted that there were clear violations of the law in connection with the computerization of elections and pointed out that Comelec refused to declare a failed bidding and conduct a rebidding despite the failure of the bidders to pass the technical tests conducted by the Department of Science and Technology
(DOST).
Nine justices voted to nullify the P1.2-billion contract granted to the Mega Pacific consortium.
They are, aside from Panganiban, Associate Justices Reynato Puno, Leonardo Quisumbing, Consuelo Yņares-Santiago, Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, Antonio Carpio, Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez, Conchita Carpio-Morales and Romeo Callejo Sr. concurred with the penned decision.
Associate Justices Renato Corona, Adolfo Azcuna and Dante Tinga submitted dissenting opinions.
Lawyer Ismael Khan, Supreme Court information officer, said the three dissenting justices do not want the contract nullified because they did not see any grave abuse of discretion on Comelec's part.
Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. and Associate Justice Jose Vitug gave separate opinions calling for the dismissal of the petition altogether. They pointed out that it is still premature for the High Court to be taking cognizance of the case at this time.
"At bottom, before the country can hope to have a speedy and fraud-free automated election, it must be able to procure the proper computerized hardware and software legally, based on a transparent and valid system of public bidding," the decision said.
"As the saying goes, the end never justifies the means."
The petitioners in the case were the Information Technology Foundation of the Philippines (ITFP) and Ma. Corazon M. Ako, Miguel Uy, Eduardo H. Lopez, Augusto C. Lagman, Rex C. Drilon, Miguel Hilado, Ley Salcedo and Manuel Alcuaz Jr.
Named respondents were Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr.; Comelec bidding and award chairman Eduardo D. Mejos and the committee members, namely, Gideon de Guzman, Jose F. Balbuena, Lamberto P. Llamas, and Bartolome Sinocruz Jr.; Mega Pacific eSolutions Inc. and Mega Pacific Consortium. Benjamin Pulta/Marie Neri/SCT/JPM
(January 14, 2004 issue)
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