Comelec: No decision yet on PCOS repair deal

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday there is still no consensus on whether or not they will give the contract to refurbish the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to its manufacturer, Smartmatic International Corp.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said they discussed this possibility in an executive session but he was still waiting for the written positions of the six commissioners on this.

“It’s not true there is already a decision to give it to Smartmatic. There is no consensus yet,” he said.

The Comelec was earlier assailed by the Citizens for Clean and Credible Elections (C3E) for its plan to enter into a negotiated deal with Smartmatic to repair and upgrade more than 80,000 PCOS machines that will be re-used in the 2016 polls.

The warranty for the machines expired in December 2013 but the Comelec’s legal department had issued a legal opinion that the poll body could exercise its right for an extended warranty if Smartmatic could prove that it is the only company that can provide the necessary services to the machines.

In an earlier interview, Smartmatic president for Asia Pacific Cesar Flores did not discount the possibility of suing Comelec if it gives the contract to another contractor and PCOS information was revealed in the process.

Flores claimed that Smartmatic has the intellectual property rights to the machines and it could provide the services that may be required by the Comelec.

He added that another provider would only be doing “reversed engineering,” which is “unlawful,” if it is to handle the PCOS machines.