By Tom S. Noda
Computerworld Philippines

“Second bidding” is in the top priority list of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in case poll automation bidding winner partners Smartmatic Corp. and Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) fail to settle their dispute on Friday (July 3).

In an interview with Computerworld Philippines, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the commission is looking into a second bidding as their top option in a worst case scenario on Friday despite it was, time and again, declared by the Comelec Advisory Council (CAC) that such an option is impossible due to time constraints.

After an en banc meeting on Tuesday, Comelec had given Smartmatic and TIM until July 3 to settle their feud over administration control in supplying for the machines in the 2010 elections since it is already causing a risk to the automation project.

TIM, a Filipino-owned IT service provider, decided to split with Netherlands-based Smartmatic last Monday with both firms decrying “irreconcilable differences” and “loss of confidence” with each other.

Comelec chairman Jose Melo told reporters on Tuesday that money was behind the conflict of the two firms. It was an issue on who gets more “control” of the Php11.3 billion poll automation project.

“It’s all about control. Each wanted to have more control of the task than the other,” Jimenez said. “But we are hands off with that problem. We just gave them a deadline to fix their problem.”

Smartmatic told Comelec that it can do the job without TIM, a task that involves supplying 82,000 machines over 80,000 precincts in the Philippines.

However, Comelec said under Comelec’s bidding rules, Smartmatic is not allowed from getting a replacement of its local partner. The law only allows a foreign firm like Smartmatic to bid for projects provided they have local partner representing 60% of the project.

Jimenez said that next to the second bidding option would be a possible partnership by Comelec with Smartmatic, and the resorting to manual elections.

“These are all but options and not yet full blown solutions. Friday is still three days away and things can change,” he said. “Though it was said that second bidding is impossible, we [at Comelec] are studying all of these.”

The Comelec spokesperson added it is even possible for the commission to amend the bidding rule that prohibits Smartmatic from replacing its local partner.

“We can also do that but I think the commission will earn ire from the public and previous bidders. They will surely say that we have now allowed what was formerly illegal,” Jimenez said.

He said a gag order was issued to the two companies to stop them from issuing press statements.

CAC head Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III, who also chairs the Commission on ICT (CICT), said in the past that there is no more time for a second bidding since voter education must begin six months before the elections, which is November 2009. This involves training and deploying of 480,000 public school teachers to operate the machines in precincts.

Roxas-Chua said a second bidding could take around one-and-a-half months.

Jimenez admitted Comelec maybe “technically” running out of time but it is keeping its hope alive in the computerization of the 2010 polls since it is of national interest.

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