The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has allocated more than P660 million for the refurbishment of the vote counting machines (VCMs) that will be used in the May 2022 national and local polls.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
In its Invitation to Bid, the Comelec said it intends to apply the sum of P660,741,660.47 being the approved budget for the contract (ABC) to payment for the VCMs’ refurbishment with consumables.
The poll body said the lot is composed of refurbishment of 97,345 units of VCMs; 109,745 pcs of SD Cards (Main); 109,745 pcs of Worm SD Cards (Back-up); and 250,000 pcs of cleaning sheets.
"Bids received in excess of the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) shall be automatically rejected at Bid Opening," the Comelec said.
Last month, Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez said the country is set to use the old VCMs from Smartmatic in the May 2022 polls.
Based on the Invitation to Bid, all the VCMs must be delivered at the COMELEC Warehouse in Sta. Rosa, Laguna in four tranches with the 1st batch of 5,000 refurbished VCMs on May 1, 2021; 2nd batch of 25,000 VCMs on July 30, 2021; 3rd batch of 25,000 VCMs on August 31, 2021; and the 4th batch of 42,345 VCMs on September 30, 2021.
The delivery of the SD cards must be completed by October 30, 2021 while the delivery of the cleaning sheets must be completed by January 12, 2022.
The commission already set the Pre-Bid Conference on November 25 and the Opening of Bids on December 9.
The bidding is open to all interested bidders, whether local or foreign, subject to the conditions for eligibility provided by the Government Procurement Reform Act.