CA asked to junk decision on P21-M project

THE Cebu Provincial government has turned to the Court of Appeals (CA) to reconsider the payment of P21 million to a contractor who built classrooms in the province during the time of former Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.

Provincial Legal Officer Orvi Ortega said the CA initially issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission (CIAC), which earlier rendered a decision asking the province to pay the amount of the contract for the project to Pragmatic Construction.

“We reasonably appealed the decision of CIAC to the CA which issued a TRO on our favor so that they can’t yet implement the decision of CIAC. It is pending as of now,” Ortega said.

Last year, Pragmatic Construction filed a case against the province before the CIAC asking for payment for the construction of more than 50 classrooms in both the northern and southern part of the province during the term of Garcia.

The provincial government, now under Gov. Hilario Davide III, refused to pay the contractor after it was found out that the P21-million contract for the project did not get approval from the Provincial Board (PB) back then, Ortega said.

“The matter we want to emphasize is on the rule of law. It is our position that the contract entered into is defective and suffering from legal infirmity because the contract did not pass through the Provincial Board,” he added.

Ortega said this is a violation of section 22, paragraph C of Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code which requires prior authorization from the PB before the local chief executive or the governor can enter into a contract.