Davao tycoon Dennis Uy, a campaign donor to President Duterte’s in 2016, is said to be the owner of a logistics firm that officially bagged Comelec contract for 2022 election. FILE PHOTO

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc has approved the notice of award to F2 Logistics Philippines to transport election materials and warehousing of the May 2022 elections equipment and supplies.

“The notice of award was approved by the en banc,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in a send to media Wednesday.

The contract covers the delivery of automated election system-related equipment, vote counting machines (VCMs), ballots and other supplies in the May 2022 national and local elections.

The company submitted the lowest calculated bid for the PHP1.61-billion contract.

Comelec commissioner Marlon Casquejo said they awarded the contract to F2 simply as compliance to procurement rules.

“It just so happened that we are just following the GPPB (Government Procurement Policy Board) rules as I have said that we have to comply with the lowest calculated bid… F2 Logistics [has] the lowest calculated bid in the deployment of AES supplies,” Casquejo said.

In the 4 items that were the subject of the bid, F2 Logistics’ bid was not even half of the amount of the budget allotted for the project— a total of P535.99 million, when the maximum contract amount is at P1.61 billion.

Its bid for 3 items ranged from P106 to P123 million when the budget ranged from P288 to P367 million.

Its biggest bid was P186 million for an item in several regions with an allotted budget of P662 million.

Malacañang said President Rodrigo Duterte has no hand in the Comelec’s selection of the company that will transport election materials.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made the reaction after poll watchdog Kontra Daya questioned the participation of F2 Logistics Philippines due to its alleged link to Dennis Uy, a Davao-based businessman.

“The Comelec has the sole power to conduct elections, including [power] to award ‘yung mga kontratang gaya nito (contracts like that). Wala pong kinalaman ang Presidente diyan. Comelec po ‘yan (The President has nothing to do with that. That’s up to Comelec),” Roque said.