The Supreme Court en banc on Tuesday, Feb. 26, denied the petition filed by the losing bidder for the CF (compact flash) cards that will be used in the May 13 midt-term elections.
The SC dismissed the petition of LDLA Marketing, against the Commission on Elections and Smartmatic-TIM, the winning bidder for the CF cards, for lack of jurisdiction.
It said under Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Act, LDLA should have filed its protest before the Comelec chairman or the Comelec en banc, the head of procuring entity of the agency, after their bid was dismissed by the Comelec Bids and Awards Committee.
The SC added once the Comelec en banc has resolved their protest, it will be the time for the petitioner to seek redress in the regular court.
LDLA, represented by Norlito Domantay, earlier argued grave abuse of discretion was committed on the part of the Comelec when it awarded through a “negotiated procurement” the contract for the CF cards to Smartmatic-TIM in the amount of P45.2 million. — PNA
