Hontiveros: Joint venture for 2025 poll system violated procurement laws

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros on Monday said the joint venture to supply the new automated election systems (AES) in Eleksyon 2025 violated government procurement laws.

Hontiveros made the statement as she reiterated that St. Timothy Construction Corporation (STCC), the firm that backed out from the Miru Systems-led joint venture, has links to a company that was supposedly blacklisted by the Department of Public Works and Highways.

"Mismong ang St. Timothy Construction, mukhang repackaged version lang ng expired na produkto – it appears to share a common address and incorporator with that of a blacklisted contractor," Hontiveros said in a statement.

(St. Timothy Construction seems like a repackaged version of an expired product – it appears to share a common address and incorporator with that of a blacklisted contractor.)

"The joint venture’s non-disclosure of that fact violates government procurement laws, which require bidders to declare that they have no relation, association, affiliation or controlling interest with any blacklisted person or entity," she pointed out.

While Hontiveros did not name the blacklisted company that allegedly tied to STCC, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto identified last weekend that St. Timothy and St. Gerrard Construction General Contractor and Development Corporation have the same address based on their business permits in Pasig City.

In the same statement, Hontiveros said there should be no problems on STCC's withdrawal from the joint venture if the Commission on Elections (Comelec) had ensured a "competitive and diligent bidding process."

"Ngayong umatras ang St. Timothy Construction, may kakontrata pa ba ang COMELEC (now that the St. Timothy Construction has backed out, is there still an existing contract with Comelec)? Under the laws on partnerships, the withdrawal of a joint venture partner like St. Timothy generally causes the dissolution of the joint venture itself," the senator explained.

"And even if the joint venture continues to exist without St. Timothy, does it still possess the financial capacity required by government procurement laws? The COMELEC seems to share the same concerns, since it required the remaining joint venture partners to prove that they still possess the Net Financial Contracting Capacity to take on the project," she surmised.

Hontiveros noted that the contract for the AES in the 2025 elections has so many red flags.

"Why anyone would want to pull out of the richest voting procurement in the COMELEC’s history – P18 billion for the mere lease of voting machines and related equipment – is a red flag. Another red flag is why such a lucrative procurement project attracted only a single qualified bidder - ang joint venture na pinangungunahan ng Miru Systems (the joint venture led by Miru Systems)," she said.

"Ang mahal mahal din ng bidding kasi may features ang mga voting machines na hindi naman pala gagamitin sa 2025. Isang eleksyon lang naman pala ang lease, bakit sinama pa sa specifications?" she went on.

(The bidding price was so expensive because there are features in the voting machines that will not be used in 2025. It's just a lease for one election, why were these features included in the specifications?)

With these "red flags," Hontiveros asked, "May totoo bang kompetisyon na naganap sa bidding process? Wala ba talagang nangyaring preferential treatment o sabwatan?"

(Was there really a competitive bidding process? Was there any preferential treatment or collusion?)

Hontiveros believes the Comelec should have acted earlier on the "many red flags" surrounding the joint venture surrounding St. Timothy and Miru Systems before awarding them the contract that is "of such immense national importance."

"The Senate should exercise its oversight functions and closely probe the contracts being awarded by COMELEC to facilitate the 2025 elections. Hindi tayo pwedeng mauwi sa manual elections, o sa kahit anong scenario na makakaapekto sa karapatan ng bawat Pilipino na bumoto at pumili sa susunod nating mga pinuno," she said.

(We cannot resort to manual elections, or any scenario that would compromise the right of every Filipino to vote and choose our next leaders.)

"We highly respect the comment/ statement of our esteemed Senator.  We fully support the exercise of oversight by our Congress on  what we are doing. We are committed to transparency as the foundation of our electoral process as a way to ensure credibility and integrity of our elections," Comelec Chairman George Garcia said to GMA News Online. —RF, GMA Integrated News