By Ferdinand G. Patinio
MANILA, July 13 (PNA) — The Commission on Elections– Special Bids and Awards Committee (Comelec-SBAC) 1 has recommended the issuance of “Notice of Award” to Smartmatic –Total Information Management (TIM) Corporation for lease of the 23,000 Optical Mark Reader (OMR) machines to be used in the May 2016 national and local elections.
In Resolution No. 2015-004, Comelec-SBAC 1 suggested the issuance of the “Notice of Award” to the Venezuela-based firm for having complied with the requirements of the project.
“In view thereof, the SBAC 1 resolves to recommend to the head of the procuring entity the issuance of the Notice of Award to the joint venture as the bidder with the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid for the lease with option to purchase of the OMR,” said the resolution dated July 9, 2015.
Smartmatic-TIM tendered a bid of Php 1.72 billion for the project with an approved budget of Php 2.5 billion.
With this, the SBAC directed the multinational company to post the necessary performance security “in an amount equal to a percentage of the total contract price” to the Comelec.
After the “Notice of Award” is issued, the poll body and Smartmatic-TIM will proceed to the discussions of the contract details.
The service-provider in the 2010 and 2013 elections is also undergoing post-qualification evaluation before the SBAC 1 for the supply of the 70,977 OMR units.
This after the committee declared Smartmatic-TIM as having the Lowest Calculated Bid (LCB) for the Php 7,867,298,140 project. (PNA)