MANILA, Philippines—Smartmatic, the consortium that won the contract to automate the May 2010 elections, should pay the Commission on Elections (Comelec) more than P7 million per day of delay in the delivery of the vote counting machines, a lawmaker insisted Wednesday.
Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said the penalty should be imposed to make sure that Smartmatic would adhere to its agreement with the poll body.
Rodriguez, at a House committee hearing, pointed out that the P7.2 billion poll automation contract contained a provision stating that in cases of delay, a portion of the total amount, specifically one tenth of one percent, would be deducted for each day of delay from the amount due Smartmatic.
In this case, the schedule for the delivery of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines to be used in the voting has not been followed, Rodriguez said. Overdue
He said that under the contract, 42,000 machines should have been delivered by Dec. 30, 2009. But as of Wednesday, only 25,720 machines are with the Comelec. The remaining 40,200 machines are expected to be delivered by Feb. 28.
“There is clearly a delay and therefore violations of the express provisions of the contract,” Rodriguez said at a hearing of the House oversight committee on the automation of the 2010 elections.
In a later interview, he said he wanted the penalty provision implemented not so much for the money, but to get Smartmatic to strictly follow its contract with the Comelec.
He said the 2010 elections are very important, and Smartmatic should not be given a chance to be remiss on its obligations.
“The exercise here is not so much about getting the money. The exercise is to make sure that they have something going against them if they will not comply. If the Comelec will stand idly by … they might postpone and postpone it, so what happens to us? There has to be strict enforcement of the contract just to be able to compel compliance of Smartmatic,” he told reporters.
Shipment delay
But during the hearing, Comelec commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said the contract states that all 82,000 PCOS machines would have to be delivered a month from now or on Feb. 28. Smartmatic has even informed the poll body that they might be able to deliver all the machines earlier, or by Feb. 21.
Larrazabal also said the delivery of the machines that were supposed to arrive last Dec. 30 was delayed because of delays in the shipment from China to the Philippines.
He further said that during the pendency of the Supreme Court case filed last year questioning the validity of the Smartmatic-Comelec contract, the poll body had itself slowed down its preparations because it was unsure if the contract would be upheld.
For its part, Smartmatic’s Ruliena Piñate said during the hearing that there was another clause in the contract stating that it may be modified by mutual agreement in accordance with the demands of the project.
Piñate said all timelines had been discussed with the Comelec, and that the firm had been working closely with the poll body.
Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said the penalty should be imposed to make sure that Smartmatic would adhere to its agreement with the poll body.
Rodriguez, at a House committee hearing, pointed out that the P7.2 billion poll automation contract contained a provision stating that in cases of delay, a portion of the total amount, specifically one tenth of one percent, would be deducted for each day of delay from the amount due Smartmatic.
In this case, the schedule for the delivery of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines to be used in the voting has not been followed, Rodriguez said. Overdue
He said that under the contract, 42,000 machines should have been delivered by Dec. 30, 2009. But as of Wednesday, only 25,720 machines are with the Comelec. The remaining 40,200 machines are expected to be delivered by Feb. 28.
“There is clearly a delay and therefore violations of the express provisions of the contract,” Rodriguez said at a hearing of the House oversight committee on the automation of the 2010 elections.
In a later interview, he said he wanted the penalty provision implemented not so much for the money, but to get Smartmatic to strictly follow its contract with the Comelec.
He said the 2010 elections are very important, and Smartmatic should not be given a chance to be remiss on its obligations.
“The exercise here is not so much about getting the money. The exercise is to make sure that they have something going against them if they will not comply. If the Comelec will stand idly by … they might postpone and postpone it, so what happens to us? There has to be strict enforcement of the contract just to be able to compel compliance of Smartmatic,” he told reporters.
Shipment delay
But during the hearing, Comelec commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said the contract states that all 82,000 PCOS machines would have to be delivered a month from now or on Feb. 28. Smartmatic has even informed the poll body that they might be able to deliver all the machines earlier, or by Feb. 21.
Larrazabal also said the delivery of the machines that were supposed to arrive last Dec. 30 was delayed because of delays in the shipment from China to the Philippines.
He further said that during the pendency of the Supreme Court case filed last year questioning the validity of the Smartmatic-Comelec contract, the poll body had itself slowed down its preparations because it was unsure if the contract would be upheld.
For its part, Smartmatic’s Ruliena Piñate said during the hearing that there was another clause in the contract stating that it may be modified by mutual agreement in accordance with the demands of the project.
Piñate said all timelines had been discussed with the Comelec, and that the firm had been working closely with the poll body.
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