THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported to a congressional oversight panel that it had approved in principle the proposals of two companies to automate the August 11 elections in at least three provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

During Monday’s hearing of the House of Representatives-Senate oversight committee cochaired by PDP-Laban Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. of Makati and Sen. Richard Gordon, Comelec chairman Jose Melo named Smartmatic, which will undertake the computerization of elections in Maguindanao, and ABS, which will cover Basilan and Shariff Kabunsuan.

Melo informed the joint panel that the poll body was deferring approval of a third company, Avante, pending a demonstration of its machines. He recalled that during the original bidding, Avante was disqualified because its machines could not detect fake ballots.

In the same hearing, Melo assured the oversight committee that the Comelec would sign the contracts for poll automation of the ARMM elections by May 5 or 6 after the three companies have demonstrated their machines and processes before senators and congressmen in a public hearing on Friday.

But Locsin reminded officials of the poll body that the demonstration by the three bidders for the lawmakers sitting in the oversight panel should have no influence whatsoever on the Comelec’s decision.

“You are a constitutional body, no one can compel you to do what you want,” Locsin said.

At the same time, Gordon voiced hopes that the Senate would be able to approve within the week the proposed joint congressional resolution suspending bidding rules in connection with the automation of the coming ARMM elections.

Smartmatic was the same company that was booted out of the project after it failed to meet the technical requirements for the Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) system that was planned to be used in Maguindanao.

The Comelec’s technical advisory council earlier proposed the use of two technologies in the ARMM poll automation: the DRE and the Optical Mark Reader (OMR) system to pilot test the eventual computerization of the 2010 presidential elections.

The DRE is a touch screen system where voters just key in the candidates’ names and their votes are automatically counted. The OMR, on the other hand, requires a ballot where voters shade spaces opposite the names of candidates and is scanned using a machine.

ABS and Avante were also losing bidders for the OMR system. They failed to meet the Comelec’s technical requirements in a rebidding for the OMR technology.

“We really have to have some automation before 2010 for us to see if we can do it. We will choose the best system to use,” Melo explained.

The Comelec has allocated a total budget of P867 million for the ARMM poll automation with the DRE requiring P279 million and the OMR P125 million.

Sandiganbayan orders arrest of Perez

THE Sandigabayan on Monday ordered the arrest of former justice secretary Henando Perez, his wife and his brother-in-law.

THE Department of Health (DOH) is set to announce Tuesday a total ban on kidney transplants for foreign patients a month after it approved the policy to end the illegal sale of human organs in the country.

THE Senate, particularly its members who “weakened” the cheaper-medicines bill, must account for its refusal to consider, negotiate or even compromise on the generics-only provision, a militant legislator said Monday.

ANY move to change the mandate of the National Food Authority (NFA) in the midst of the rice crisis could only worsen the situation for both the consuming public and the government, Malacañang was warned on Monday.

FORMER Nueva Ecija governor Tomas Joson III and two officials who used to be acting provincial treasurers are now facing criminal complaints before the Ombudsman for alleged malversation of public funds and violation of the Antigraft and Corrupt Practices Act.

THE united and determined effort to find missing activist Jonas Burgos entered its first year on Monday with his family firmer in its quest to find him and stronger in its accusation that the military is involved in his disappearance.

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported to a congressional oversight panel that it had approved in principle the proposals of two companies to automate the August 11 elections in at least three provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

INSTEAD of giving dole-outs to poor families, the government should course cash gifts to nongovernment organizations (NGOs) who provide services to the underprivileged, said Caritas Manila, the charity arm of the Archdiocese of Manila.