Transparency and Accountability Network

The problem hounding SMARTMATIC and TIM is really between them, which cannot be solved by any other entity, albeit the consequences will have tremendous impact on the whole country. From the news stories coming out, TIM's beef with SMARTMATIC has to do with control over the joint venture. This, therefore, points at the 60-40 ownership of the joint venture, which should have been established in their agreement, a required document submission. This is where the Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) of the Commission on Elections comes in.

 

As expected, the Commission on Election's (Comelec) procurement of the AES (Automated Election System?) has become the perfect stage for the Government Procurement Reform Act to be put to test. As speculations are building on a 'failure of bidding' scenario, some people put the blame on the procurement law for being very strict and unbending (rigid?). The line of reasoning goes - "The SBAC could not be faulted for its strict compliance with the law. The bidders are not faulted because they did their best. What else could have gone wrong? The law" Has this been a fair and accurate observation of the current application of the GPRA so far? And our answer is NO. We caution to say that we do not claim that the GPRA is perfect, but of course there is still a very big room for improvement.

Affiliated Network for Social Accountability - East Asia and the Pacific

Right to Know. Right Now!

Information may be neutral, but if it is not being harvested by the public, it can become a tool to further circumvent accountability.  One of the key pillars of social accountability is access to information.  In the Philippines, this right is guaranteed by the constitution (Bill of Rights, Article III, Section 7). But since the ratification of the constitution 20 years ago, the exercise of this right remains at the discretion of public officials.

Key sectors such as the media, and citizen groups and the citizens in general continually feel that government offices do not see disclosure of information as an obligation that they have to fulfill. Instead, those delivering public services imply that those asking for public documents have "utang na loob" (debt of gratitude) to them. This demand for key information is crucial to exacting accountability.

On May 6, 2009, the Transparency and Accountability Network will present its findings and observations on the completed procurement activities conducted by the Comelec Special Bids and Awards Committee to the SBAC and staff (technical and secretariat).