DICT told to pay joint venture’s P692-million claim for internet services

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Audit (COA) has granted the petitions of a joint venture of three companies seeking nearly P700 million in claims against the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for unpaid internet services to remote areas in the country.

The COA en banc, in two separate decisions released on Monday, March 2, said the claims of Comclark Network and Technology Corp., We Are It Philippines Inc., and Telered Technologies & Services Corp. were based on the joint venture’s service of providing internet connections to 1,017 sites under the Universal Internet Subscription for Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (UIS-GIDA).

The joint venture’s claims are based on Contract Agreement No. CA-2023-025 and the same number of subscriptions under Contract Agreement No. CA-2023-026 for May 5, 2024 onwards.

The first contract was worth P565.77 million, and the second contract was P554.665 million. 

The COA said the DICT had not paid for the first four months, or from February to May 2024, the period when the joint venture started providing internet services. 

The auditors said the DICT’s obligations were supported by documents, and had been acknowledged by the government agency. 

It also said the joint venture is entitled to compensation under the principle of quantum meruit or recovery of a reasonable value for the object delivered or services rendered.

“The documents submitted in the petition has established: the prior existing contract between the parties; the delivery and acceptance of services beyond the period of such contract; the demand for its payment; and, the actual non-payment by the respondent. Likewise, the factual antecedents and the amount claimed in the petition were admitted by the respondent without any qualification,” the COA said.

“Equity dictates that petitioner be paid for the services it has rendered, to deny payment would amount to sanctioning an unjust situation wherein the respondent and the public will benefit at the expense of the JV (joint venture),” it added. – Rappler.com