A joint venture led by Korean company Miru Systems Co., Ltd, the lone bidder in the second round of bidding for the P18.827-billion contract, passed the eligibility check of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) to bid for the 2025 automated election system.
Miru was also the lone bidder during the first round of the bidding but the poll SBAC declared a “failure of competitive bidding” after it ruled that the South Korean firm was “ineligible” for failure to fully comply with the legal requirements.
The SBAC conducted on Monday a second round of bidding for the 2025 polls where Miru submitted new bidding documents.
The poll body said six companies bought bid documents, namely, Dominion Voting Systems, AMA Group Holdings Corporation, Electiotech Consultant and Management, Inc., Indra Philippines, Inc., SMMT-TIM 2016, Inc., and Miru Systems.
However, only the joint venture of Miru submitted a bid for the lease of the Full Automation System with Transparency Audit/Count.
Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said they hoped to award the contract by February or early March this year.
Meanwhile, Smartmatic attempted to participate in the bidding, but the SBAC did not accept its application because of the Comelec resolution disqualifying the elections technology provider from participating in all procurement processes.
The SBAC also cited the absence of any temporary restraining order on the said resolution.
Smartmatic had been the provider of vote-counting machines since the Philippines shifted to automated elections in 2010.