THE Commission on Audit has denied the motion for reconsideration filed by the National Housing Authority (NHA) on the dismissal of its claim of unpaid land rent totaling P2.015 billion against the Department of Transportation and Communications (now Department of Transportation).
The COA en banc affirmed its position that the NHA’s claim is now “moot and academic” after the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement and Assignment Agreement (MOAAA) on March 21, 2017 between the DOTC, NHA, Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Development Corp., and North Triangle Depot Commercial Corp. (NTDCC).
“While the MOAAA did not amend, modify or extinguish the contract of lease between NHA and DOTC, it is evident that the assignment of Depot Developments Rights Payment (DRP) Payable and Depot DRP operates for the fulfillment of the obligations of DOTC to NHA on the lease rentals,” the commission said.
Since this provision is covered in the MOAAA, the COA held that it is the contract between the parties on the fulfillment of obligations of DOTC to NHA and constitutes the law between them.
The NHA insisted that there remains a “justiciable controversy” despite the execution of the MOAAA since the obligation of the DOTC remains unsettled as far as the shelter agency is concerned.
In its decision, the COA en banc pointed out that as of September 30, 2023, the DOTC/MRTDevco/NTDCC had already made total payments amounting to P5,013,869,802.64 to the NHA, which the latter applied P3.54 billion to principal and P1.473 billion to “delinquency interest.”
“With the application by the NHA to the principal and interest in the amounts of P3,566,950,201.03 and P1,485,160,196.29, respectively, …the amount of the principal claimed in the petition is already covered,” the COA said.
“Moreover, since DOTC/MRTDevco/NTDCC never defaulted in the payments, no breach was committed by it that may give rise to a justiciable controversy,” it added.
Instead of pursuing a petition for money claim, the COA said the NHA should make a reconciliation of balances of rent due and the payments thereon to determine the amount payable by DOTC/MRTDevco/NTDCC and apply the provisions of the MOAAA because the agreement already addresses the rights and interests of all parties.
