THE minority bloc at the House is hoping there are no irregularities in the P15 million electronic legislation project, similar to the poll computerization project of the Commission on Elections with MegaPacific Consortium.

"I hope the Comelec has no hand in it," said Cibac party list Rep. Joel Villanueva of the project spearheaded by Speaker Jose de Venecia and the committee on information and communication technology chaired by Rep. Joseph Santiago (NPC, Catanduanes).

The consortium in 2004 won the bid for 1,900 machines for the Comelec’s automation project. The P1.3 billion deal was later voided by the Supreme Court.

Villanueva said he is "willing to look at it if it is overpriced and most of all if it will really help members of Congress especially the people to monitor our moves and our decisions."

The main office of Infobahn Communications Inc. main office is located at the second floor of the Fil-Am Hardware building on La Salle st. corner Aurora blvd. in Cubao, Quezon City.

The installation of the e-voting system, which would require each congressman’s thumbprint for identification, highlights the session hall’s renovation which could last for a month.

Asuncion said the other two bidders in the project withdrew because the House budget was too low. Asuncion said the payment will come only after the project’s completion.

Rep. Edno Joson (Ind., Nueva Ecija) said there will be no problem with the House’s latest endeavor as long as the bidding was appropriately undertaken.

"Ang mahalaga, tama ang bidding process," he said.

Speaker Jose de Venecia has said the e-legislation project would cure the chronic problem of absenteeism because congressmen will have to register every session day.

He said the House could spend from P25 million to P30 million to establish what Speaker Jose de Venecia calls a "state-of-the-art" computerized session hall, including the renovation costs and the procurement of laptop computers for every congressman.

"This will save us much in terms of plenary discussion time because we can do away with the repetitious roll calls for attendance and conventional individual voting," De Venecia said.

The electronic voting system would put an end to voice voting.The ambitious electronic legislation project would place the Philippine Congress at par with counterparts in Europe, the US, and Asian neighbors China, India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and others.

Source: Malaya by Wendel Vigilia, December 29, 2007