THE Department of Agriculture has to pay in full the P781,472 claim of the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) after the latter’s petition was granted by the Commission on Audit.
In a ruling released this week, the COA Commission Proper declared that the DA owes the PICC the full sum agreed upon for providing the venue for the staging of the “2019 DA Search for Outstanding Rural Women.”
The event was held on December 16, 2019 at the Summit Halls C and D of the PICC where seating for 300 attendees was provided.
However, the memorandum of agreement (MOA) was belatedly drafted and signed only on January 24, 2020.
While the PICC forwarded the statement of account for the staging of the event, the DA failed to pay on the ground that the billing was supposed to be submitted before the deadline on December 27, 2019.
The audit that evaluated the claim said the DA cannot be held liable for the full amount since only 196 showed up on the actual date. It recommended that the amount due to the PICC was only P630,672.
However, the Cluster Director found otherwise, noting the DA has not disputed that the PICC rendered services in full.
In its decision, the COA CP affirmed the cluster director’s stand that the obligation of the PICC was limited to preparing the venue and providing services for the expected number of people who would arrive.
“The measure of recovery should relate to the reasonable value of the services performed because the principle aims to prevent undue enrichment based on the equitable postulate that it is unjust for a person to retain any benefit without paying for it,” the COA pointed out.
At the same time, it noted that the DA did not contest the validity of the claim nor the assertion that no payment had been made.
