THE Commission on Audit has dismissed a private contractor’s P21.93 million claim against the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) seeking the enforcement of an arbitral award from the Construction Industry Arbitration Council (CIAC) in 2019.
Citing the pendency of PDIC’s motion for reconsideration filed before the Court of Appeals on December 5, 2019, the COA Commission Proper said it would be premature to rule on the petition of JBROS Construction Corp.
It clarified that without a final judgment authorizing payment, the commission has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the claim for compensation.
“Considering the pendency of the MR before the CA, this Commission rules to defer the resolution of this case to the sound judgment of the court and await the refiling of the money claim for proper execution,” the COA declared.
Likewise, it noted that all claims against the government must be backed by full documentation, something that JBROS Construction Corp. failed to do since the authenticated copy of the Final Award from the CIAC and the Certificate of Non-Payment from PDIC were not submitted.
At the same time, the COA Commission Proper assailed what it tagged as “patent errors” in the CIAC ruling that it found unfair on the part of the PDIC and the government.
It disputed CIAC’s pronouncement that PDIC’s termination of JBROS’ contract and having it blacklisted from government projects was illegal.
CIAC had ruled in favor of the contractor’s stand that PDIC imposed an impossible condition by requiring the contractor to complete the retrofitting works and soil stabilization of PDIC’s eight-story office building and its existing warehouse-type structure for the full cost of P25.93 million.
JBROS said it cannot complete the work required in the contract since PDIC refused to address the problem of jet grouting and retrofitting of the columns which were preventing it from proceeding with the job.
The COA noted that during a coordination meeting the year before among PDIC, JBROS and architectural and engineering design consultants E.H. Sison Engineers Co. (EHSEC) and Construction Project Manager Engineer Augusto Salazar, the issue had been addressed.
“They agreed to reschedule the implementation of jet grouting and retrofitting of affected columns so that JBROS could use the existing power supply to complete the fabrication and installation of the majority of unaffected columns before the power line is cut,” the COA said.
Likewise, it pointed out that PDIC had reminded the contractor that the project is supposed to be completed within 60 calendar days and JBROS had agreed to complete the project by October 27, 2018.
The COA noted that the records showed that JBROS completed only 57.65 percent of the total project including a variation order as of December 27, 2018.
