Capitol insists: No contract, no payment

Capitol officials yesterday admitted that WT Construction Inc. did additional work at the Cebu International Convention Center but insisted that the province cannot pay for these because there is no contract for the said additional work.

Rory John Sepulveda also questioned the amount demanded by the construction firm saying it is exorbitant and that additional works done by the contractor would not cost that much.

Sepulveda said that it might cost P100 million but not P261 million as demanded by WT Construction. He explained that there is really no direct way of knowing how much was the cost of the additional work done by WTCI.

But, even if an item-for-item evaluation is done to determine how much is the actual cost of the additional work, Sepulveda said the provincial government could not pay the contractor because of the absence of a contract.

Cebu third district Rep. Pablo John Garcia, who is a member of the Capitol legal team that reviewed the WTCI contract, reiterated that since there is no contract between the Capitol and WTCI, then there is no basis for Capitol to pay the amount.

Last Tuesday, Willy Te, vice president of WTCI, lodged a civil case for collection of a sum of money for alleged failure of the province to pay P261 million for additional work made for the construction of the convention center.

In its 12-page complaint, WTCI asked the court to oblige the Capitol to pay them P261 million including the 12 percent per annum interest reckoned from February 2007 until full payment for the additional work is done.

WTCI also demanded P5 million in damages and P150,000 in attorney’s fees and litigation expenses. The contractor said that they made additional works because the province promised to pay.

The total cost of the additional works amounted to P175, 951,478.69 for site development, structural and architectural works and the electrical and plumbing works which amounted to P85, 266,407.

The billing statement included P85.26 million for electrical and plumbing works, P126.65 million for civil and structural works and P49.29 million for site development.

Pablo John, however, said that they have not yet a copy of the complaint. He said that he only got information from a print report and demand letter of the WTCI to Governor Gwendolyn Garcia asking for payment for the additional works amounting of P261 million.

“What we are investigating now is their (WTCI) claim and the amount in whatever works that WTCI did in CICC. We are also investigating if these claims are true. If there was no contract to cover these claims, where was the failure?” asked Pablo John.

Pablo John said the result of the investigation will be used as their defense to the complaint by the contractor.

In its final demand letter for the payment of additional works for CICC dated January 8, Te said that despite the additional works in time for the 12th Asean Summit and with “reasonable costing…the Cebu Provincial Government has done nothing to settle its obligation.”

But in his reply, Provincial Legal Office Chief Marino Martinquilla explained that works and items did not pass the procurement process as provided by the Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act. Martinquilla added that their records show that no contract has been executed between the province and WT Construction “… hence, the Province of Cebu is not in the position to pay said amount.”

Sepulveda said they had expected though that when the provincial legal office sent its reply to the contractor, it would open a better communication with both parties to clarify and thresh out issues.

WT Construction is the major contractor of the convention center, particularly the superstructure. The Capitol legal officers admitted that WT has many contracts with the Capitol in so far as the construction of the convention center.

“But this was the only item that we found out that there was no contract,” said Sepulveda. — Fred P. Languido, Gerome M. Dalipe/QSB