FOR failure to deliver the 33,300 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) before the February 21 deadline, Smartmatic and Total Information Management (Smartmatic-TIM) may have to pay P7.1-million fine per day until they complete their deliverables.
Lawyer Ferdinand Rafanan of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Law Department head, said that if the consortium failed to deliver the 82,200 PCOS machines they may be charged of the said fine.
“I don't know if they already delivered it full, but beginning tomorrow, they will be liable for P7.1 million a day if they have not delivered it today,” he said.
Rafanan said that it will be the Commission en banc that will decide if they will send a demand letter to the company since under the law, they are mandated to pay P7.1 million for each day of delay in the deliveries of the machines.
The Smartmatic-TIM earlier promised that they would be able to deliver the machines either February 14 or February 21.
However, Smartmatic spokesman Gene Gregorio said the other machines will arrive before the end of this month.
Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal noted that the official deadline of the deliveries set by the Commission en banc was February 28.
“The deadline really is February 28, some people from the Smartmatic said that based on their schedule they can do an early deliver," the poll body official added.
Larrazabal said he is not worried since all machines were already manufactured.
On the other hand, Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, earlier said that under the contract, the P7.1-million fine will not be implemented as long as the two parties agreed to address the problem and if the reason behind the delays were valid.
A total of 48,900 PCOS machines are now stored in a warehouse in Cabuyao, Laguna, 27,300 were already in transit and the remaining 6,000 back-up machines were already delivered last Saturday. (FP/Sunnex)