The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has allotted at least P300 million for the initial procurement of election materials for the automated midterm polls next year.
The poll body’s bids and awards committee (BAC) announced the amount would be spent for the lease of external batteries for vote counting machines (VCMs) and acquisition of thermal papers to be used as voter receipts.
In an invitation to bid, the poll body said it has an approved budget for contract (ABC) of P174,990,519.00 for the lease of external batteries for 97,350 VCM units, at P1,797.54 per unit.
In a separate bidding invitation, the Comelec said it has an ABC of P117,439,146 for the purchase of 1,168,200 rolls of thermal paper, at P100.53 per unit.
“Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nondiscretionary ‘pass/fail’ criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations [IRR] of Republic Act [RA] 9184, otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act,” the Comelec said.
To qualify for the two bidding process, bidders must be Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least 60 percent interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens.
The Comelec said interested parties, who would like to bid for the either item, may get hard copies of the bidding documents for a non-refundable fee of P50,000 from June 5 to July 2, 2018.
The bidding documents could also be downloaded for free at the web site of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System.
The Comelec is scheduled to conduct a prebid conference for both items on June 18 at 10 a.m. at the Comelec Session Hall, 8th Floor Palacio del Gobernador Building, Gen. Luna corner Postigo streets in Intramuros, Manila.
The deadline for submission of bids to the BAC Secretariat is on or before 9 a.m. of July 2 at the Comelec Session Hall.
On the same day and venue, the BAC will hold the bid opening at 10 a.m.
“Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend. Late bids shall not be accepted,” the Comelec said.
“The Comelec reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award,” it added.