Megaworld Corp. of tycoon Andrew Tan said Friday it had not evaded any substantial claims from construction firm DATEM Inc. despite the latter’s alleged “gross negligence” and “repeated failure” to fulfill its obligations with the property firm.
Megaworld, in a statement, denied DATEM’s accusation that it refused to pay its obligations to the construction company.
“With this, we wish to assure that Megaworld remains committed to fulfilling its obligations to all its creditors and to the general public. Megaworld is prepared to vigorously defend itself and address all the allegations in DATEM’s complaint in the proper forum,” Megaworld said.
Megaworld said it found DATEM’s demand for a huge amount of claims and adjustments unreasonable considering its poor performance as a project contractor.
It said that after the lockdown was lifted, DATEM could not catch up and missed the deadline for the completion of projects awarded to them. This forced the property firm to get other contractors to take over the projects assigned to DATEM, it said.
“To set the record straight, Megaworld has not evaded any substantial claim for payment from DATEM, even if they failed to deliver on their commitments. In fact, Megaworld incurred additional costs because of their delays,” the property firm said.
It said DATEM’s move to have its assets frozen is “ridiculous and absurd” as the amount they are claiming was only 0.2 percent of Megaworld’s total assets.
“Megaworld never committed fraud in its dealings with DATEM. Perhaps, what is considered fraudulent is demanding for payments for projects they failed to deliver excellently and on time,” it said.
DATEM earlier filed a case with Quezon City Regional Trial Court over Megaworld’s alleged refusal to settle its unpaid obligation worth P873 million.