Garbage hauler’s P27M claim against Cebu City junked

MAKE sure you have a valid contract before providing any kind of service.

A waste management firm learned this lesson the hard way after the Commission on Audit (COA) denied its claim for compensation against the Cebu City government for the sum of P27.38 million representing unpaid haulage of trash from August to November 2015.

In its 11-page decision, the COA en banc held that Alry Waste Management Solutions did not have an enforceable claim against the city government because there was no contract to speak of regardless of the fact that it provided trucks to haul solid waste from the Inayawan Transfer Station to the Polog Consolacion Landfill.

The claimant firm, represented by Joseph Ryan Go, relied on a July 28, 2015 letter from the head of Cebu City’s Department of Public Service (DPS) which requested Alry Waste Management to “continue and extend hauling services to maintain the cleanliness of the city.”

The payment for this service contract was supposed to come from a proposed Supplemental Budget then pending before the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

However, records showed that the city’s existing garbage hauling contract at the time was not with Alry but with the Joint Venture of Aljory Waste Management Solution and JJ and J Construction and General Supplies which was due to expire on August 1, 2015.

In its claim, Alry said it hauled a total of 18,214.73 tons of garbage which was supported by the Monthly Report of Garbage Hauled duly reviewed and verified by the DPS which also issued corresponding acceptance reports.

According to the breakdown of its claim, Alry said it paid tipping fees to Consolacion Sanitary Landfill, Methane Recovery and Power Generation Facility totaling P12.807 million, haulage fees for using dump trucks of the Visayas Truckers Equipment and Quarry Operations Service Cooperative (VTEQC) amounting to P9.107 million, and transfer station rent of P5.46 million.

After failing to receive payment despite repeated demands, the firm sent a demand letter dated July 1, 2019 to then City Mayor Edgardo Labella to no avail.

In his petition, Go said even if there were infirmities in the procurement process and the city’s failure to pass the