Results of the probe into the deal — previously considered "extravagant" — may be released on June 22, Comelec law department head Ferdinand Rafanan said.
This is four days later than the date earlier announced by the Comelec.
The investigation report’s release has been earlier delayed due to similar reasons.
The panel tasked to investigate the controversy was formed early April but no resolution has been issued yet, more than two months after the probe.
Rafanan told reporters in a text message on Friday that the Comelec Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), Executive Director Jose Tolentino, and ballot folder supplier One Time Carbon (OTC) Paper Supply have yet to submit some documents despite his "repeated demands."
However, he refused to elaborate any further. He likewise said that it would be better to ask Comelec chairman Jose Melo about the matter after he has submitted the report to the Comelec en banc on Tuesday.
In an interview on Friday, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said they have to give Rafanan a chance to properly present his findings.
"We want to be very thorough... if the person responsible says (he lacks data), you have to give him the benefit of the doubt," he said.
In an earlier interview, BAC chairman Lea Alarkon confirmed that Rafanan has been sending them notices regarding the probe and that her committee has complied with these orders.
"We believe we have submitted all the records concerning the procurement... the documents will speak for [themselves]," she said.
Alarkon could not be immediately reached for comment as of posting time.
Jimenez said that the poll body will punish those who have refused to cooperate with the investigation.
However, the delay was just probably brought about a late submission of documents and nothing more, he said.
He also asked the public to have some patience because they just went through "a rather tedious canvassing process" and that they do not have daily en banc sessions anymore.
Earlier, Melo had admitted that the Comelec en banc and the BAC committed a "lapse" in judgment when it awarded the contract to supply and deliver 1,815,000 pieces of 25-inch long ballot secrecy folders for P690 million to OTC.
The poll body eventually scrapped the contract because it was supposedly "extravagant beyond the ordinary needs of the Commission."
It also said that the number of folders to be purchased exceeded the total number that may actually be used during the elections. — RJAB Jr./RSJ
Law Relating to Tenders and Government Contracts
