Chairman Jose Melo told Standard Today that the Comelec was banking on the assurance made by Senator Richard Gordon that the P13.5-billion budget for the automation of the May 2010 election would be made available to the poll body.

The senator’s assurance was a prime requirement for the Comelec to begin the bidding process by formally inviting prospective suppliers of voting machines, said Melo, former Supreme Court justice.

Without an approved budget, Melo said the poll body will not be able to conduct a public bidding as a certification on the availability of funds as required under the government accounting and auditing rules before such bidding could be held.

The Comelec submitted a P21-billion budget for the full automation of the 2010 polls but it decided to settle for P13.5 billion, taking into account the senators comment that the P21-billion budget was too big for a small country like the Philippines.

With a reduced budget, Melo said the Comelec decided to use Optical Mark Reader technology, which is cheaper than the Direct Recording Electronic System.

Both technologies were tested successfully in the Aug. 11, 2008 election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Arlie Calalo

Manila Standard Today