POLL AUTOMATION. Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc members hold a press conference on Wednesday (Feb. 21, 2024) at the Comelec main office in Manila. The Comelec would decide this week on whether or not to award the contract for the 2025 poll automation project to lone bidder Miru Systems Co Ltd. (PNA photo by Ferdinand Patinio)
MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will decide on whether or not to award the contract for the 2025 midterm polls automation project worth over PHP18 billion to the lone bidder Miru Systems Co Ltd., this week.
Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said the seven-member Commission en banc would issue a statement if they will adopt or not the recommendations by the Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) regarding the lone bidder in the Full Automation System with Transparency Audit/Count (FASTrAC) project.
On Wednesday, the joint venture of MIRU et al., a South Korean firm, conducted an end-to-end technology demonstration of FASTrAC before the members of the en banc and other stakeholders at the poll body’s main office in Intramuros, Manila.
“These machines were customized in accordance with the terms of reference (TOR), which the Commission came up with last year pa po (as early as last year). Hindi po ito 'yung machines na ang Comelec ang nag-adjust sa kanila. Sila ang nag-adjust base sa ating requirements ng (These are not the machines adjusted by the Comelec. They adjusted based on the requirements indicated in the) terms of reference,” Garcia said in a press briefing.
Miru Systems sales manager Jason Lee explained to the Comelec officials, guests and observers the functions of the machines, which is equipped with Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) and Optical Mark Reader (OMR).
The DRE is the touchscreen mode of voting while the OMR is the technology used in the past elections, by shading the ballots.
Garcia noted that most of the items in their wish lists are included in the service provider’s automated machines.
Meanwhile, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco reported that the bidding for the Online Voting and Counting System for overseas voting has been declared a failure after the two bidders have been declared ineligible. (PNA)
