Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco (File photo courtesy of Comelec)
MANILA – Three international technology companies, including Smartmatic Philippines, have purchased bidding documents for the automated election system (AES) project in the 2025 midterm polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Monday.
During the pre-bid conference in Manila, the Comelec - Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) said two more firms -- Pivot International and Miru Systems Co. Ltd. -- have acquired the bidding documents for the Full Automation System with Transparency Audit/Count (FASTrAC) project.
The three companies purchased the bidding documents on Oct. 31.
In an interview, Comelec spokesperson and SBAC vice chairperson John Rex Laudiangco said they are expecting more companies to purchase the bidding documents for the AES project amounting to PHP18.8 billion.
"Right when we started this, we saw that there are many interested companies. This is why we pushed through with this competitive public bidding process," he said.
All prospective bidders may obtain a complete set of bidding documents from the SBAC secretariat at FEMII building in Intramuros, Manila, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mondays to Fridays, until Nov. 20.
The bidding documents may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System and the Comelec website.
Bidders shall pay a PHP75,000 fee for the complete set of documents.
The deadline for the submission of bids is on Nov. 28 at 9 a.m. at the SBAC secretariat.
The bids will be opened at 10:30 a.m. on deadline day at the Comelec hall at the Palacio del Gobernador building, also in Intramuros.
The United Kingdom-based Smartmatic purchased the bidding documents despite a pending disqualification case filed before the poll body.
Petitioners questioned the eligibility of Smartmatic as provider of an automated election system and vote-counting machines in 2025 and subsequent polls due to its alleged failure to comply with certain minimum system capabilities. (PNA)
