COA flags 42 unimplemented Igbaras projects worth PHP 16.4 million

ILOILO CITY — Forty-two infrastructure and social service projects in Igbaras, Iloilo, funded through the town’s 20% Development Fund (DF) from 2016 to 2022, remained unimplemented as of Dec. 31, 2025, the Commission on Audit (COA) reported.

COA flagged PHP 16.377 million in continuing 20% DF appropriations that stayed idle at the end of 2025 because the projects were neither implemented nor reprogrammed for other development initiatives.

Under Section 287 of the Local Government Code of 1991, every local government unit must set aside at least 20% of its annual internal revenue allotment, now called the National Tax Allotment, for development projects.

Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 of the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Finance, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, dated Nov. 4, 2020, requires that projects charged against the fund be “well-planned and procurement-and-implementation-ready.”

State auditors said the 2022 allocation accounts for the largest share of the backlog, with 21 project allocations totaling PHP 10.817 million.

The biggest unexecuted 2022 items are PHP 3 million for the construction of a multi-purpose facility, a PHP 2.942 million municipal health center building, a PHP 2.25 million demonstration farm and pavilion in Barangay 3 Poblacion, and a PHP 500,000 livestock market improvement in the same barangay.

The 2022 list also includes 17 barangay-level allocations of PHP 125,000 each for multi-purpose buildings and stages, a child development center, health facilities, and the municipal counterpart for a covered gym.

For 2020, six projects worth PHP 3.62 million failed to materialize, led by a PHP 1.9 million municipal street concreting project in Poblacion and a PHP 1.32 million municipal-wide tourism facility improvement.

The audit report also listed nine unimplemented barangay projects from 2021 totaling PHP 990,000, covering multi-purpose buildings, evacuation centers, health centers, and day care centers at PHP 110,000 each.

Older allocations still on the list are a PHP 200,000 municipal counterpart for a day care center from 2019, a PHP 300,000 monuments and landmarks project in Barangay 3 Poblacion from 2018, PHP 300,000 for birthing clinic improvements in Barangays Buga, Lumangan, and Igtalongon from 2017, and a PHP 150,000 slaughterhouse upgrade from 2016.

State auditors said most of the stalled projects were barangay-level infrastructure, such as multi-purpose buildings, road concreting, health centers, and birthing centers.

However, barangay captains, or punong barangay, were unable to request the funds from the municipality because the amounts earmarked for their barangays were insufficient to carry out the proposed works, COA said.

Apart from the unimplemented projects, auditors flagged PHP 8.081 million in savings from completed projects covering 2010 to 2022 that were never reprogrammed to augment other priority programs, projects, and activities.

COA said leaving the savings unused runs counter to the purpose of the 20% DF, which is to fund development projects essential to the general welfare of residents.

The audit team said the Municipal Planning and Development Council and concerned offices should have continually monitored and reviewed available appropriations so the funds could finance other development projects.

“It is emphasized that the responsibility and accountability in ensuring that the development projects funded under the 20% DF comply with the guidelines and optimally contribute to the attainment of desirable socio-economic targets and outcomes of the LGU, rest upon the local chief executive and other officials concerned,” COA said.

“The non-implementation of the projects funded under the 20% DF defeats the purpose of attaining the desired socio-economic targets and outcomes, thus depriving the constituents of the intended benefits,” it added.

The audit agency said the finding reiterated an observation raised in the previous year’s audit.

To address the backlog, COA recommended that the Municipal Planning and Development Council, the Municipal Budget Officer, and concerned department heads evaluate the necessity and feasibility of all 42 pending projects.

COA also recommended that implementing offices expedite the projects or otherwise reprogram the funds, including savings from completed projects, to other workable programs. The two pools total PHP 24.458 million.

Auditors also called for periodic reviews of projects charged against the 20% DF so the municipality can respond to community development needs on time.

The municipal mayor agreed to the recommendations, according to the audit report.