THE Commission on Audit (COA) has granted a P3.78 million claim by a supplier against the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for unpaid deliveries made eight years ago.
Claimant Topbest Printing Corp. filed its petition on April 30, 2018 saying it has not received payment from the Comelec for 10,000 tally boards for manual elections delivered on April 26, 2016 for the May 9, 2016 national, local, and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) elections.
Topbest said it was declared the winning supplier by the Comelec on March 1, 2016 after submitting the lowest qualified bid for the printing, supply, and delivery of contingency forms (tally boards). Two days later, the Comelec issued a Notice of Award (NOA) prompting the supplier to post a performance bond.
Citing the tight deadline with just weeks left before the elections, Topbest said it opted to start printing the tally boards and delivered them to the Comelec on April 26, 2016 as shown by Delivery Receipts No. 032104 and 032105.
It admitted that it did so without waiting for the Comelec to sign the contract and issue a Notice to Proceed (NTP).
After the delivery, Topbest asked the Comelec to formalize the contract and the NTP to no avail.
On January 16, 2018, it sent a follow-up letter and requested payment for the total obligation of P3.78 million but again received no response.
Instead, the Comelec en banc passed a resolution on February 13, 2018 denying payment despite delivery and receipt of the contingency forms on the ground that there was no enforceable right due to the absence of a contract and NTP.
It then recommended that the supplier file a petition before the COA.
In its claim, Topbest sought payment of the entire contract cost as well as P300,000 in attorney’s fees and P50,000 in litigation cost.
The COA held that Topbest is entitled to reasonable payment for completing the delivery which benefited the Comelec but it swept aside the claim for legal expenses.
Invoking the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (RIRR) or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), the COA said the Comelec was expected to issue the NTP and the approved contract within three days after the Notice of Award.
“The absence of the contract and the NTP should not prejudice Topbest’s claim for payment of the delivered tally boards. Equity dictates that Topbest, who had no control of the procurement process, should be paid for what it had delivered. Otherwise, it would result in undue enrichment on the part of Comelec,” the COA said.
