Pimentel: Comelec bought ballot folders for P380 each

Election officials had bought nearly two million ballot secrecy folders for the May 10 elections at an overpriced rate of P380 each, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. alleged on Sunday. Citing information from a confidential source, Pimentel claimed there had been no bidding for the folders, which will be used to cover the ballot during voting. He declined to name the company that had bagged the contract from the Commission on Elections (Comelec). “I want Chairman [Jose] Melo to investigate this matter because this will taint the integrity of the Comelec. It looks like more than P300 per piece is too much… I cannot name my source because doing so will endanger his life," Pimentel told GMANews.TV in Filipino.
Under Comelec Resolution 8786, there should be 22 folders per clustered precinct. This means the poll body must shell out P638 million for 1.68 million folders for the 76,340 clustered precincts in the upcoming elections. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the poll body would answer Pimentel’s allegations on Monday. “We’ll respond to this at our [press briefing] tomorrow," he said in a text message to GMANews.TV.

‘Anomalous’ contract On Sunday, Pimentel said the absence of a public bidding allows a contractor to bloat the price of his product or service. Under Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act, state agencies must bid out procurements to ensure the most competitive price for the government. The law was crafted to promote transparency in government procurement to establish a system of accountability for public officials and contractors. Despite his allegations, Pimentel said the Comelec under Melo is more credible than when it was still under his predecessor Benjamin Abalos Sr. Abalos resigned in 2007 after he was dragged in the allegedly overpriced $329-million broadband deal the government had entered with a Chinese firm. “The Comelec is better now than it was with Abalos," Pimentel told dzBB in Filipino in a separate interview. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo aborted the deal at the height of the controversy in 2007. — NPA, GMANews.TV