Comelec IT team to inspect poll machines in China
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 11/04/2009 3:45 PM
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MANILA - The Commission on Elections on Wednesday said it will send a team of information technology (IT) professionals to Shanghai to check on the production of precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to be used in the 2010 Philippine elections.
"The three-man team will inspect the facilities to make sure that everything is on schedule. There will be two inspections," Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said in an ANC interview.
He said the inspections will last three to five days after which the team will submit an assessment report.
Larazabal also announced that there will be workshops for a select group of election officers in order to provide a framework for the voting process and ensure that everything will go smoothly and will be more orderly than the recent registration.
He said Smartmatic-Total Information Management will also be doing a site survey all over the Philipines with the Department of Education.
Comelec earlier ordered Smartmatic-TIM to explain its contract with a Shanghai-based company after the winning consortium informed the government about a change in the firm that will produce the poll automation machines.
It informed the Comelec this week that Qisdi, an electronics firm, will now be manufacturing the machines under the supervision of its subsidiary, Taiwan-based Jarl-tech.
In the bidding to automate the polls, one of the credentials presented by the Barbados-based Smartmatic was that Jarl-tech would manufacture the PCOS machines. In its website, Smartmatic said it has been working with Jarl-tech since 2004.
Other bidders, however, questioned the inclusion of a third party, Jarl-tech, to the poll automation project, but Comelec still awarded the project to Smartmatic.
Under the automation project, Smartmatic should deliver to Comelec 82,200 voting machines, with the last batch to be delivered in February 2010.
Reached for comment, Smartmatic spokesman Gene Gregorio said the move from Jarl-tech to Qisda is a strategic one since “the company has bigger and better facilities.”
He added: “Also, the place is not susceptible to adverse effects of climate change.”
Based on its website, Qisda is a service provider of electronic products for consumer, commercial, industrial & lifestyle applications. Its product offering ranges from LCD monitors & monitor-TV, All-in-One PC, e-signage & industrial displays, projectors, mini-photo scanners, multifunctional printers, mobile communications devices, healthcare electronics, automobile electronics, portable display devices, to LED lighting fixtures.
”The main headquarters is in Taiwan, with several global manufacturing sites, including in Shanghai, China,” Quisda's website site says. The Shanghai manufacturing site produces mobile phones and wireless communication gadgets. With a report from Aries Rufo, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak
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