Poll contractor asked to explain hitches

As 2GO drops out and Smartmatic switches manufacturers of ACMs

Too many changes in the poll automation contract between Smartmatic-TIM, the winning bidder, and the Commission on Elections, as well as the reports of the withdrawal of 2GO, the Aboitiz delivery and warehousing firm which also got the nod of the poll body, prompted a senator to demand an explanation from the Comelec and Smartmatic on the two major hitches which are likely to derail the automated national and local elections scheduled in May 2010.

The Tribune broke the story on Smartmatic sudden switching of manufacturers as well as 2GO’s decision to opt out of the automation contract it reportedly had with Smartmatic-TIM.

Neither Smart-matic nor the Comelec came out publicly to explain the sudden switches which would likely affect the delivery of the counting machines in time for the automated polls.

The Tribune also reported it was likely that Smartmatic would be encountering more delays in deliveries, as well as some other machine glitches, since sources told the Tribune that Smartmatic was banking on the Comelec for total funding for the manufacture of the machines.

The source said that Filipinos are being fried with our own lard, as Smartmatic does not put out money of its own to fund this automated project.

This was also allegedly the reason 2GO opted out of the project, as no “upfront” money has been paid out to the delivery and warehousing company.

Smartmatic earlier indicated that it is farming out the contract for the provision of logistics and storage facilities to firms other than the Aboitiz-owned 2GO, which confirmed the earlier Tribune story of more trouble brewing for the automated elections plan for next year. The consortium failed to mention which firms it is tapping for the provision of logistics and warehouse facilities for the counting machines.

The consortium claimed it is hiring the services of different regional logistics providers to transfer the 88,200 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines, as stated by Smartmatic Asia-Pacific president Cesar Flores.

Aside from the services of 2GO, the consortium will also be selecting a group of providers to work with them to handle various portions of the deliveries throughout the nation, he added.

The Tribune earlier had learned that Smartmatic had informed the Comelec of the probability the machines’ delivery being delayed.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. yesterday sought an explanation from the poll body and poll contractor for automated elections and urged the two entities to come clean with the public, as well as for the two to be truthful in assessing the consequences of the sudden change in the foreign company subcontracted to manufacture the electronic voting machines, along with the sudden pullout of the Aboitiz-owned 2GO from its contract to provide logistics services in terms of delivering and maintaining the machines all over the country.

Pimentel said he was alarmed at the report that Smartmatic-TIM dropped the Taiwanese firm, Jari-Tech, as the original company that would manufacture the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines, after its plant was supposedly damaged by a recent typhoon.

Due to the incident, executives of the winning consortium informed the Comelec last week that Jari-Tech was replaced by a Shanghai-based manufacturer, Qisda, or Quisda.

A check with Google had both firms listed, and both were not into manufacturing automated machines, although both are claimed to be manufacturing electronic products, such as LCD monitors. TV monitors and personal computers, projectors and the like.

Nothing in the website of the two mentioned firms said anything about these companies’ expertise or background in the manufacture of the PCOS machines.

Also noting the very tight schedule for manufacturing the voting machines, Pimentel said Comelec and Smartmatic should immediately reveal how the switch from the Taiwanese to the Chinese manufacturer would set back the schedule for the delivery and installation of the voting machines.

“According to reports, there was an admission from Smartmatic that this could affect the timetable for manufacturing and delivering the voting machines. However, it looks like they were not forthright and accurate enough in assessing fully the consequences of the problem on the nationwide automation of the 2010 elections. If this problem is so grave as to put the entire poll automation project in peril, they (Comelec and Smartmatic) should not keep the information to themselves,” the senator said.

Under its contract with Comelec, Smartmatic-TIM should deliver the PCOS machines, which are customized with numerous security features, to the poll body in four batches — 12,000 in November, 2009 30,000 in December, 2009, 30,000 in January 2010 and 12,000 in February 2010. The consortium had earlier turned over sample units of the voting machines to the Comelec for demonstration and evaluation purposes.

Pimentel emphasized it is important that the voting machines should be delivered within schedule because there should be sufficient time to test them and to train election personnel and volunteers who will operate them.

In expressing concern over the withdrawal of 2Go from the automation project, the minority leader asked whether Smartmatic-TIM has already found a substitute company that will provide not only delivery services but also storage or warehousing facilities for the voting machines, accessories and supplies in various regions and provinces of the archipelago.

He said the sudden pullout of 2GO indicates internal problems between the logistics and cargo-forwarding firm and Smartmatic-Time, but no reason for it has been given at this time.

Unless a substitute company with proven capability for such enormous tasks is found, Pimentel warned that there are areas, especially those in the Visayas and Mindanao, where the voting machines will not be delivered on time.

“It is very unfortunate that these setbacks are happening while the May 10, 2010 elections are drawing near. It only adds to the apprehensions over the automation of the electoral process on a nationwide basis for the first time in our history.

“The Comelec should act fast and decisively in untangling the knots and clearing the glitches. But before it could do so, it should first determine the full extent of the problems,” he said.

Pimentel requested the joint congressional oversight committee to summon Comelec and Smartmatic TIM officials to a hearing to look into the status of the P7.2 billion poll automation project and the problems that are being encountered in its implementation.

Newsbreak, in its report posted at the ABS-CBN Website yesterday said that the consortium had informed the Comelec this week that Qisdi, an electronics firm, will now be manufacturing the machines under the supervision of its subsidiary, Taiwan-based Jarl-tech.

Earlier too, the Taiwan-based Jarl-tech was reported to have subcontracted another manufacturer in Taiwan to manufacture the PCOS.

Newsbreak said that part of the credentials presented by the Barbados-based Smartmatic in the bidding process, was that Jarl-tech would manufacture the PCOS machines. In its website, Smartmatic said it has been working with Jarl-tech since 2004.

Other bidders, however, questioned the inclusion of a third party, Jarl-tech, to the poll automation project, but Comelec still awarded the project to Smartmatic.

“There was an admission from Smartmatic that this could affect the timetable for manufacturing and delivering the voting machines. However, it looks like they were not forthright and accurate enough in assessing fully the consequences of the problem,” he said.

Comelec law department head Ferdinand Rafanan, in the same report, was quoted as admitting that the change of manufacturers of the poll machines constitutes an amendment to the Smartmatic contract, but insisted that there is still no violation of the contract since Jarl-tech “will still be directing and supervising the manufacture of the machines.”

Jarl-tech, Rafanan said, will only use the facilities of Qisda,” Rafanan.

One is in Shanghai and the other in Taiwan, so supervision may be difficult.

Rafanan also echoed the Smartmatic line that Jarl-tech’s facilities, having been affected by the successive typhoons, caused Smartmatic to get another manufacturer in Shanghai.

The typhoon in Taiwan that truly affected the country occurred some two to three months ago, yet this is being used by Smartmatic as the reason for the change in manufacturers.

The unpreparedness of the Taiwan government for that particular typhoon that devastated the country, almost toppled the Ma government.

Earlier, Tribune reported that Smartmatic already informed the Comelec it was switching manufacturers of the machines from the original Taiwanese firm to a Shanghai manufacturer blaming a typhoon that hit Taiwan some months back for the shift.

“This (the change of manufacturers) was admitted by Comelec officials in a meeting,” the source said.

Asked whether this decision to change subcontractors meant a delay in the delivery, the source told The Tribune that Comelec officials admitted the “probability of the delay in the delivery” of the automated machines.

The source also related that 2GO was opting out of the contract.

Flores said the consortium’s decision to farm out the logistics contract was meant to distribute the responsibility of deliveries among various companies to ensure that not one company’s resources are over-extended.

Flores said that 2GO, for its part, was more than willing to accommodate the request for the benefit of the automation project.

“The change to a bigger and faster facility was already approved by the (Comelec’s ) Project Management Office (PMO). In addition, it has complied with all the different environmental requirements previously requested during the bidding process as part of Comelec’s request for proposal,” Flores said.

At the same time, he assured that these developments will not, in any way, delay the delivery of the machines.

Flores said with any project of a huge magnitude, changes can be expected along the way.

“Fortunately, our experience and contingency plans allow us to face all the different challenges with appropriate solutions,” he added.

Flores has yet to disclose just which firm is to replace 2GO.

“With 2GO out of this contract, who gets the contract?” the source asked, noting that the Comelec has been extremely quiet about this and its plans along with the schedules of its automated program. –Daily Tribune