G.R. No. 252986 - SUNWAY BUILDERS, VS. COMMISSION ON AUDIT AND MUNICIPALITY OF CARRANGLAN.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, judgement [ sic ] is hereby rendered in favor of Claimant SUNWAY BUILDERS and against Respondent MUNICIPALITY OF CARRANGLAN in the total amount of EIGHT MILLION THREE HUNDRED FIFTY THREE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED TWENTY SEVEN & 17/100 (Php8,353,327.17) Pesos only Philippine Currency, broken down as follows: Unpaid accomplishment Php7,392,793.60 Interest 134,302.17 Retention Money 276,231.40 Attorney's fees 550,000.00 Total Php8,353,327.17 In addition, Respondent CARRANGLAN is directed to reimburse Claimant SUNWAY the cost of arbitration in the amount of Php309,728.84. Upon this award becoming final and executory, interest of six [percent] (6%) per annum shall be further paid to Claimant SUNWAY on the outstanding total amount of P8,353,327.17 from date of this award. After finality thereof, interest at the rate of 12% per annum shall be paid thereon until full payment of the awarded amount shall have been made, this interim period being deemed to be at the time already a forbearance of credit. (Eastern Shipping Lines, Inc. v. Court of Appeals, et al, 243 SCRA 78 (1994)[)]. SO ORDERED[.] [18] (Emphasis omitted) The CIAC resolved the claim for unpaid work accomplishment as follows: First , the CIAC determined that the correct total project cost was P18,211,760.00 on the basis of the following documents: (a) Sunway­-issued Statement of Account and (b) Sunway-issued Request for Payment No. 5 dated September 4, 2007, which was certified and/or approved by selected officials of Carranglan, including: Engineer Cesar Baltazar, Coordinator of the Local Government Unit, Project Management Unit (LGU-PMU), and Mayor Otic. [19] Second , it determined that the correct percentage of completion was 59%. The CIAC gave weight to the following documents: (1) the Letter dated January 13, 2010 [20] written by Mayor Otic and addressed to DBP, asking the latter to pay Sunway an amount representing 59% accomplishment of the total project [21] and (2) the Sunway-issued Statement of Work Accomplished dated April 30, 2008, [22] which was verified true and correct by Engr. Ruel T. Cruz, Coordinator of the LGU­PMU, and approved by Mayor Otic. [23] In brief, the CIAC regarded the parties to have mutually acknowledged the total project cost and percentage completion on account of the above-mentioned correspondences and commercial documents issued, exchanged, and approved between them. [24] Third , the adjusted balance of unpaid work accomplishment and Total Award amounting to P7,392,793.60 was computed as follows: Total Project Cost [25] P18,211,760.00 Multiply By Percentage of Completion [26] 59.00% Unpaid work accomplishment acknowledged by both parties [27] Less Amount already paid by Carranglan [28] P10,744,938.00 -3,352,144.40 Unpaid work accomplishment, as adjusted [29] P7,392,793.60 The parties did not appeal from the CIAC Award. As a result, it lapsed into finality [30] and consequently, the CIAC issued a Writ of Execution [31] dated November 24, 2015 to impleme