A prospective bidder for the automation of the 2010 elections questioned Friday a revised bidding rule implemented by the Commission on Elections.
In the pre-bid conference held by the Comelec's Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) Friday, Indra Sistemas asked why the poll body had relaxed its requirements for the eligibility of the bidders.
"Ipatupad muna yung strict requirements, saka magluwag if needed (They should implement the strict requirements and only relax these if needed)," Indra Sistemas's Aris Batuhan told the poll body.
The Terms of Reference (TOR) states that prospective bidders should submit their single largest contract in the last 3 years, the amount of which must be not less than P6B or half of the P11.3B budget for automated elections.
Now, SBAC says possible bidders can submit at least three contracts, the sum of which should still be equivalent to half of the automation budget.
"We preempted a possible monopoly. Ayaw namin iisa o dalawang kompanya lang magqualify (We didn't want only one or two companies to qualify)," SBAC Chairman Ferdinand Rafanan said.
Ten firms had paid the poll body one million pesos each for bid documents.
The SBAC meanwhile vows to ensure transparency in the bidding process, saying this will be open to public scrutiny.