KAKAILANGANIN ng Commission on Elections (Comelec) ng tinatayang P6.7 bilyon para makapagrenta ng 97,000 vote counting machines na gagamitin sa 2025 midterm elections.
Inihayag ito ni Comelec chairman Saidamen Pangarungan na naniniwalang kailangan nang mapalitan ang mga lumang makina na ang ilan sa mga ito ay nakaranas ng pagpalya nuong May 9 national and local elections.
Kinatwiranan naman ni Pangarungan ang hindi paggamit ng mga bagong vote counting machine nuong nakalipas na halalan na dahil aniya sa kapos na pondo.
“Dito po sa 2022 budget, the Comelec requested a budget of P12 billion and Congress only approved only P8 billion kaya po napilitan ang Comelec to refurbish the vote-counting machines and then we have these malfunctions in the VCMs,” ayon kay Pangarungan.
“So, definitely, we will recommend to lease new vote-counting machines kasi itong mga VCMs, it’s 13 years old. Kailangan talagang gumamit tayo ng bago na mga [so we need to use new] VCMs for the 2025 elections,” dagdag nito.
Naniniwala rin si Commissioner George Garcia na dapat nang magretiro ang 97,000 VCMs nito dahil sa kalumaan.
“‘Yun pong lumang-luma, 97,000 po lahat-lahat ‘yun and we leased 11,100 additional new machines. So ako po, personally, would recommend to the en banc, in case we’ll still be there, to retire the 97,000,” ani Garcia.
“It is no longer feasible at this point to use these machines in 2025. Masyado na pong matanda,” dagdag nito.
Mas pabor naman si Garcia na umupa lang ng mga makina dahil sa mas matipid sa maintenance at pag-iimbak nito.
“Based on the experience of the Commission on Elections, it’s always leasing the machine that is the best option, not purchasing the machine, simply because we have to rent a warehouse to store the machines and at the same time it’s very difficult to maintain the machines. Nagbabago po kasi ‘yung technology every now and then,” paliwanag ni Garcia.
“We spent P660 million for purposes of refurbishment, that is actually a smaller amount compared to leasing again new machines,” dagdag pa ni Garcia.
Sakali naman umupa ang ng 97,000 VCM, sinabi ni Comelec Executive Director Bartolome Sinocruz Jr. na aabot sa P70,000 ang halaga ng bawat isang yunit.
“In the past elections, the lease prices about 70 percent of the purchase price…Just for the sake of discussions, kung 100,000, 70 percent…70,000 per VCM,” ani Sinocruz.