MANILA, (PNA) – Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes is wondering where did lawyer Melchor Magdamo get his information that ballots have been printed even after the May 13 midterm polls.
He noted that the extra reams of papers are in the custody of the National Printing Office (NPO).
“We are really wondering what he (Magdamo) is saying that the excess papers are being used to print more ballots. All remaining paper reams are still with the NPO and we own them,” Brillantes added.
The poll body will investigate the allegations of Magdamo after creating a fact-finding committee to be headed by Law Department head Director Esmeralda Ladra last week.
The extra reams will be used in the printing of official ballots for Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in October.
“We will use them in the October elections. It is enough (to cover the required number of ballots),” he added
With this, the poll body decided not to conduct the bidding for the procurement of ballot paper for scheduled polls.
“The Bids and Awards Committee hereby excludes in the items for bidding the Supply and Delivery of Ballot Paper to be used in the Printing of Official Ballots,” said the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) resolution. The project had a total Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) of P148.87 million.
“We initially set it for bidding but we learned that there were excess papers… so we were able to save a bit in the cost of ballot paper,” Brillantes added.
The panel will be investigating the claims of Magdamo that ballots still being printed by Holy Family Printing Corporation (HFPC), which is the winning bidder in the printing of ballots in the May 2013 poll exercise even after the polls have been conducted. (PNA) FGP
He noted that the extra reams of papers are in the custody of the National Printing Office (NPO).
“We are really wondering what he (Magdamo) is saying that the excess papers are being used to print more ballots. All remaining paper reams are still with the NPO and we own them,” Brillantes added.
“We will use them in the October elections. It is enough (to cover the required number of ballots),” he added
With this, the poll body decided not to conduct the bidding for the procurement of ballot paper for scheduled polls.
“The Bids and Awards Committee hereby excludes in the items for bidding the Supply and Delivery of Ballot Paper to be used in the Printing of Official Ballots,” said the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) resolution. The project had a total Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) of P 148.87 million.
“We initially set it to be bid out but we learned that there were excess papers… so we were able to save a bit in the cost of ballot paper,” Brillantes added.
The panel will be investigating the claims of Magdamo that ballots still being printed by Holy Family Printing Corporation (HFPC), which is the winning bidder in the printing of ballots in the May 2013 poll exercise even after the polls have been conducted.