Second round of bidding for 2025 polls will resume on 8 January

The Commission on Elections confirmed that the second bidding for the 2025 elections will be on 8 January.

This was confirmed by Comelec Spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco in a Viber message. When asked about the deadline for declaring the bidding winner, he said that the winner can be announced within a day, allowing for the declaration of the Bidder with the Lowest Calculated Bid from those declared Eligible.

"Based on the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA9184, the opening of bids can be completed within one day, allowing for the declaration of the Bidder with the Lowest Calculated Bid from those declared Eligible (from among the bidders who submitted bids),"

"Following this, the mandatory Post Qualification Evaluation will be conducted to validate and verify all documents submitted during the eligibility check, as well as compliance with all technical specifications of FASTrAC," Laudiangco said.

The spokesman added that under the law, a period of seven to 30 days for the bidders with the lowest bid to be verified and complete the required documents.

"As per the rules, there is a period of 7 to 30 days from the declaration of the Bidder with the Lowest Calculated Bid for the verification, validation, and testing of Legal, Technical, and Financial Requirements,"

"After this, once the Bidder with the Lowest Calculated Bids has passed their Post Qualification Evaluation for their Legal, Technical, and Financial submissions, they may declare the Bidder with the Lowest Calculated and Responsive Bid," Laudiangco stated.

On 12 December, the Comelec's Special Bids and Awards Committee or SBAC declared the lone bidder Miru Systems, Co., Ltd, a Korean firm, ineligible due to its failure to translate the documents to English supporting the Statement of Single Largest Completed Contract as required under Section 23.2 of the Revised IRR of R.A No. 9184.

Another ground for its ineligibility is the incomplete undertaking to enter into a Joint Venture agreement, wherein only "jointly" was written instead of the required "Jointly and severally liability" as stipulated in Section 23.4.1.1 of the Revised IRR of R.A No. 9184.

Following the declaration of Miru as an ineligible service provider for the 2025 polls, the SBAC conducted a mandatory review of this procurement project, which is necessary before commencing the second round of competitive public bidding.