Another anomalous transaction at the COMELEC?

Ah, siguro may makikinabang na namang COMELEC official sa overpricing na to, just before the elections:

It’s a hoary joke that goes back to Leonardo Perez, Ferdinand Marcos’ election operator.
It’s the one about the Commission on Elections not knowing how to count. Well, the Comelec has apparently struck again - this time not on adding votes but on determining which quantity is bigger than another.

The fogies at the Comelec probably were not taught set theory when they in their elementary grades. There are these signs ">" and "<" which when inserted between two numbers indicate that one is bigger or smaller than the other. For example: "23,899 > 14,999." The relationship is easy enough to grasp. And actually our beef with Comelec is not about set theory. It’s on the matter of honesty, credibility and not making a fast buck in every supply deal it contracts out.

Last Jan. 23, the Comelec awarded a contract for the supply of paper for ballots to be used in the May elections. The contract went to Lamco Paper Products Corp. with its bid of P23,899 per ream. For Comelec’s total paper requirement, the deal amounted to P310 million plus change.

The mystery that prompted suspicions the Comelec is innumerate is the existence of another bidder, Advance Computer Forms, which offered to supply the paper for P14,999 per ream or a total of P194.8 million.

The difference between the two bids is 60 percent or P115 million. So why was the contract given to the company which submitted the higher bid?

Curiously, the specifications for the paper were changed three days before the bidding on Jan. 20. The original specification was for "watermarked mechanical bond paper for official ballots, 70 gsm, with watermarked impression."

The revised specification called for "wood-free book paper, white-85 gsm. Paper shall contain watermark made through mechanical process by dandy roll."

The Comelec made additional required security features for the paper as follows:

* Dark violet spots that appear at random when exposed to direct sunlight or ultra-violet light.

* After-glow spots that appear in the dark after the paper is exposed to fluorescent light.

* Chemical or solvent sensitive features similar to those found in a CBS-1 (clearing board specification 1) or security paper used in the production of bank checks.

Somebody apparently tailored the new specification to suit one bidder. The question: In whose pocket will the P115 million "retaso" end up?