COA: 11 of 16 Bingawan development projects unfinished in 2025

ILOILO CITY — Inadequate evaluation of project preparation timelines and technical documentation before development proposals were enrolled in the Annual Investment Plan (AIP) stalled project delivery in Bingawan, Iloilo, leaving 11 of 16 priority development projects unfinished in 2025, state auditors said.

The Commission on Audit (COA) reported that 68.75% of the municipality’s programmed priority projects under its 20% Development Fund (DF) were either ongoing or not implemented as of Dec. 31, 2025.

For 2025, the local government unit (LGU) of Bingawan appropriated a total of PHP 25,655,125 for 16 development programs, projects, and activities (PPAs) across the social, economic, and environmental sectors.

However, total disbursements and obligations reached only PHP 19,233,974.68, leaving an unutilized balance of PHP 6,421,150.32 at year-end.

“Delayed implementation of the identified priority projects may hamper the economic growth and development of the Municipality. Moreover, delays in project execution and the inability to optimally utilize the allocated 20% DF during the year suggest that these projects are not well-planned and procurement-and-implementation-ready,” COA said.

Section 287 of the Local Government Code of 1991 requires LGUs to set aside at least 20% of their annual share of national taxes for development projects.

A 2020 joint memorandum circular of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Department of Finance (DOF), and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) further requires LGUs to ensure that projects funded from the 20% DF are well-planned and ready for procurement and implementation.

The audit showed a sharp contrast between the projects that were finished and those that were not.

All five completed projects were non-civil works transactions, mostly fixed financial obligations.

These included loan amortizations paid to the Development Bank of the Philippines, the Land Bank of the Philippines, and the Municipal Development Fund Office, along with the acquisition of a municipal lot.

In contrast, all 11 unfinished projects involved physical infrastructure, public facilities, water systems, or environmental parks.

COA’s breakdown of the 16 projects showed unfinished work in all three development sectors.

Under social development, all four planned PPAs remained incomplete at year-end, covering evacuation centers, a potable water system, a multipurpose hall for the Rural Health Unit, and a municipal counterpart fund.

Of the nine PPAs under economic development, four were completed, while five farm-to-market road and public market projects remained ongoing or delayed.

Under environmental management, only one of three PPAs was completed — a debt settlement for heavy equipment — leaving the eco-park improvement and the second phase of a senior citizen park unimplemented by year-end.

Not shovel-ready

COA said the delays stemmed from the LGU’s failure to adequately consider the timelines for project preparation and documentation before including the projects in the AIP.

Auditors found that most of the required documentation, including purchase requests and Programs of Work (POW), was prepared only toward the latter part of 2025.

Most of the projects tagged “ongoing” or “not implemented” at year-end were processed for procurement and awarded, with work starting only in the second half of the year, the report said.

This resulted in the delayed or non-implementation of several planned projects for 2025, COA said.

State auditors also noted that the AIP’s schedule of implementation was so general that it did not specify the implementation period of each project.

As a result, implementing offices had no clear reference for when to begin work, COA said.

Auditors recommended that the AIP carry the specific implementation periods and procurement modes from the municipality’s Project Procurement Management Plan (PPMP).

Implementation was further hampered by inclement weather, as a significant number of the projects involved road works that are highly weather-dependent, the report added.

“These circumstances indicate that the timelines for project preparation and documentation were not adequately considered prior to their inclusion in the Annual Investment Plan. The Municipality should ensure that project proposals during budget preparation are shovel-ready,” COA said.

“Further, all relevant factors that may affect timely execution, including environmental factors and site constraints, should be properly evaluated to minimize delays and ensure efficient utilization of funds,” it added.

COA said the Municipal Development Council (MDC) and officials representing the oversight committee should have proactively monitored the projects financed by the 20% DF.

Under the joint circular, responsibility for ensuring that 20% DF projects comply with the guidelines and contribute to the LGU’s socioeconomic targets rests with the local chief executive and other officials concerned.

‘Domino effect’

COA also documented a “domino effect” that began with projects carried over from previous years.

In 2024, 14 of 19 planned development projects, or 73.68%, were ongoing or not implemented by year-end, the report said.

Auditors attributed those delays mainly to unfinished projects from earlier years, which the municipality continued to implement as continuing appropriations in 2024.

“This created a domino effect, as resources and implementation capacity remained focused on prior year’s PPAs,” the report said.

Consequently, the preparation of POWs and procurement for most of the 2024 projects began only in the last quarter of that year, COA said.

The 14 delayed 2024 projects, worth a combined PHP 12,008,066.42, were carried into 2025.

Records showed that 13 of them were completed between January and October 2025, including evacuation centers, a multipurpose hall for the Rural Health Unit, a child development center, farm-to-market road concreting, and the installation of 38 roll-up units at the public market.

The only 2024 project that remained unimplemented was a potable water system, whose unutilized balance will be carried over as a continuing appropriation, COA said.

COA communicated its findings to municipal officials through Audit Observation Memorandum No. 2026-009(2025) dated April 8, 2026.

The municipal mayor, members of the MDC, the Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator (MPDC), and other municipal officials agreed to the auditors’ recommendations.