A P549.33 million claim against the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp (NHMFC) for alleged breach of obligations has been thrown out by the Commission on Audit for lack of jurisdiction.
The Commission en banc held that the petition filed by Balikatan Housing Finance Inc. seeking the enforcement of the arbitral award it won at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) was premature.
Balikatan is a private corporation created after DB Real Estate Global Opportunities IB LP won the May 18, 2004 public bidding for the sale and transfer of NHMFC’s non-performing, high-delinquency loans made by public and private home financing institutions.
After entering into a Loan, Sale, and Purchase Agreement with DB Real Estate, the NHMFC agreed to form Balikatan as a special purpose entity to which the government agency assigned its rights to mortgage loans.
However, Balikatan sought arbitration before the SIAC on a claim that NHMFC breached the agreement, which it won on February 22, 2016 after the arbitration court ordered the GOCC to pay the claimant’s repurchase price of P270.36 million with penalty interest at 3.18 percent (P100.97 million) and post-award interest of six percent (P124.76 million), and P34.55 million or half of the claimed cost of legal representation.
In its petition to the Sandiganbayan, Balikatan said the full claim was worth P549.33 million.
In its decision, the COA noted that while the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 148 had already recognized the SIAC’s arbitral award, the NHMFC had assailed it before the Court of Appeals.
“This Commission finds that the amount subject of this money claim based on a judgment award is not yet considered a liquidated claim. Thus, considering the pendency of the petition for review of the RTC’s recognition of the Arbitral Award before the CA, this Commission rules to defer the resolution of this case to the sound judgment of the court as the claim has yet to be determined by the courts with finality,” the COA said.
