AFTER a six-year wait, contractors of unpaid Capitol projects, including a hospital building, will soon be paid for the work they completed.
The Provincial Government is checking who among the contractors during the previous term of Gov. Gwen Garcia have claims that were not settled by the administration of the former governor, now Vice Gov. Hilario Davide III.
Garcia has asked the Provincial Engineering Office for a list of the contractors and how much the Province owes them.
The governor said the contractors should be paid because they completed the projects they were contracted to do. They were also not ghost projects or overpriced projects, she said.
“If it was any fault at all nga inyong makit-an, underpriced, kay kaniadto mangita man gyud ko sa pinakamubo nga presyo kay total wa may mangayo’g komisyon. Pero ako ba na ianunsyo? Magbutang ba kog dako kaayo diha nga tarpaulin nga this Capitol is corruption-free? (I would always look for the lowest price because no one would ask for a commission anyway. But did I announce it? Did I put up a sign that says this Capitol is corruption-free?) No. We just did it because that was the right thing to do, without needing to shout to high heavens that we are not corrupt,” Garcia told reporters on Thursday, July 25.
When he was governor in 2014, Davide had said the Capitol would not settle the claims of the contractors because their contracts were not approved by the Provincial Board (PB).
Garcia said the PB could have ratified the contracts as a remedy.
“I will be forwarding all contracts to the PB for ratification of their contracts. This should have been done previously but it was never done,” she said on Thursday.
On Jan. 14, 2014, Provincial Accountant Marieto Ypil had said there were 31 contractors who had collectibles amounting to P607.2 million.
Provincial Engineer Hector Jamora said that of the amount, P250 million worth of projects were completed and payment was considered “demandable.”
The amount includes the P63.659 million that WTG Construction and Development Corp. was collecting for the construction of the 100-bed Balamban Provincial Hospital in Barangay Baliwagan in Balamban town.
“But since the PB did not ratify the contract, our provincial hospital (Balamban) suffered because it was not able to use the new building. For six years, that building was idle,” said Garcia.
The contractor did not turn over the three-story hospital to the Province because of the failure of the latter to pay for it.
As soon as the PB approves the proposed ordinance of PB Member Glenn Soco that seeks to revoke the ordinance that deleted the close to P1 billion continuing appropriations for the years 2005 to 2013, the Province could pay the contractors.
On Aug. 13, 2018, the PB approved Ordinance No. 2018-11, which deleted the P986.9-million continuing appropriation reportedly due to lack of fund support in the budget records.
But based on the Capitol’s General Fund Balance Sheet and Statement of Cash Flows as of Dec. 31, 2015, there was still a cash balance of P1,134,477,528.70 a year before the continuing appropriation was canceled.
In a letter sent to Garcia on July 11, 2019, Ypil said the Province’s current net cash balance stood at P3,000,292,931.61, according to the financial statements as of May 31, 2019.