Potential bidders for the contrioversial poll computerization program of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) may not meet the poll body�s deadline for the bid packages.

Information Technology Association of the Philippines (ITAP) president Cynthia Mamon admits bidders may not be able top adequately prepare their proposals in time for the March 5 deadline set by the Comelec.

In its first and only pre-bid conference held last February 18, Comelec chair Benjamin Abalos Jr. said that the poll body would not hold any more pre-bid conferences because they �might run short of time.� He added that the March 5 deadline is �unextendable.� Comelec officials also said they will respond to issues raised by the bidders only through writing and will be distributed as a bid bulletin.

ITAO is a private, non-profit organization of Information Technology (IT) companies in the Philippines. Its members include Microsoft Philippines, IBM, Oracle and Compaq. Some of the 18 companies bidding for the Comelec computerization project are ITAP members.

Mamon however warns the Comelec against making any hasty decisions on the computerization of the 2004 polls.

�Haste may turn efforts to computerize elections in the country to waste, if its (Comelec) fails to address issues arising from preparations of this exercise. The private sector must be given enough time to prepare for bidding and ensure a flawless bidding for this project,� she said.

The bidders raised mostly technical questions regarding the bidding of the Comelec modernization project. The project has three elements: the validation of voter registration, automation of vote counting and canvassing, and electronic data transmission. The list of issues presented to the commission concerned eligibility, lease option, bid evaluation, ballot paper and printing, site preparation, and vote consolidation and canvassing.

The National Citizen�s Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), for its part, pointed out that the Comelec has yet to respond to the issues raised by the bidders during the conference.

Namfrel, a private election watchdog, has been hounding the Comelec to settle issues that emerged with the enactment of the Election Modernization Law. The law, Republic Act 8436, was passed in 1997 and was scheduled for full implementation in May 2001. However, lack of funds and technical issues precluded its deployment at that time. It is also heading a public advocacy campaign dubbed �Hi-Tech Boto� (H-Tech Voting), organized to pressure the Comelec into expediting the computerization of the coming elections.

Namfrel Secretary Guillermo Luz warned that they would file impeachment cases against Comelec commissioners if they fail to computerize the next elections.

�It will be a clear case of non-implementation,� he said. Luz explained that computerization could help minimize fraud and safeguard the credibility of elections as a democratic exercise.