COA flags PHP 19.4M in unimplemented Batad projects

ILOILO CITY — Unsubmitted project plans, unresolved site conflicts, and late procurement stalled nine development projects worth PHP 19.4 million in Batad, Iloilo, depriving residents of timely public facilities and social services in 2025, a Commission on Audit (COA) report showed.

The projects were charged to the town’s 20% Development Fund (DF), the share of the National Tax Allotment (NTA) that the Local Government Code of 1991 requires every local government to set aside for development projects.

The NTA replaced the Internal Revenue Allotment in 2022 after the Supreme Court’s Mandanas-Garcia ruling expanded the national tax base from which local government shares are computed.

Half the fund unused

Batad’s DF appropriations for 2025 totaled PHP 61.85 million, of which the municipal government utilized only PHP 31.84 million, or 51.47%.

The total consisted of PHP 27 million from the current-year NTA share and PHP 34.85 million in continuing appropriations from previous years.

The current-year amount represented 20% of Batad’s PHP 135.02 million actual NTA for 2025, according to the report.

This left an unutilized balance of PHP 30.02 million, equivalent to 48.53% of the total, at year’s end.

The town used 54.71% of its current-year allocation, or PHP 14.77 million, but only 48.96% of its continuing appropriations, or PHP 17.06 million.

Of the 20 approved programs, projects, and activities (PPAs) under the fund, five were fully implemented by the end of 2025, one was ongoing, and five were used for recurring obligations such as loan interest, debt service, and insurance.

The remaining nine projects were not implemented at all during the year.

The nine projects

The rehabilitation and upgrading of Rizal and Cordero streets, worth PHP 6.3 million, was the only current-year project among the nine.

The street project was deferred because of the ongoing construction of the Philippine National Police and Bureau of Fire Protection buildings near the site, which required adjustments to the layout and drainage canal alignment.

The other eight projects were carried over from continuing appropriations.

These included the purchase and installation of a lift at the annex building worth PHP 4 million, the construction of the Drancalan-Q. Lopez Road worth PHP 2.8 million, and the construction of the Sta. Ana footbridge worth PHP 1.5 million.

The upgrading of school facilities, worth PHP 1.5 million, was deferred after its revised layout and design were referred back to the end-user for feedback because of site size constraints.

The rest were the concreting of Bañes Village worth PHP 1.1 million, the improvement of a multi-purpose building worth PHP 1 million, the purchase of a lot for the core shelter worth PHP 700,000, and the fabrication and installation of traffic signs worth PHP 500,000.

Management gave no reason for the delays in the Drancalan-Q. Lopez Road, the core shelter lot, and the Bañes Village concreting, although procurement for all three was undertaken in 2026, the report said.

Not procurement-ready

Beyond the project-specific reasons, state auditors said the projects were included in the annual budget without being fully planned, designed, or procurement-ready.

“All listed PPAs funded by the 20% DF were identified as priority development projects of the Municipality; however, the inability to fully implement them indicates that the funded projects were not procurement- and implementation-ready, thereby preventing the constituents from fully benefiting from the services these projects could have provided if completed on time,” COA said.

A Nov. 4, 2020, joint memorandum circular of the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Finance, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government requires DF-funded projects to be well-planned and procurement- and implementation-ready.

Under the same circular, responsibility for ensuring compliance rests with the local chief executive and other concerned local officials.

The finding updates an observation from a previous audit, and auditors relayed it to the municipal government through an audit observation memorandum dated March 23, 2026.

COA recommended, and the mayor agreed, that the municipal engineer and end-user offices jointly prepare a specific timetable for the PHP 19.4 million in projects, monitor their progress, and ensure their timely completion.

Auditors also recommended, and the mayor agreed, that the municipal planning and development coordinator ensure all projects carry complete plans, designs, and other required documents before they are included in the budget.

The municipal government has since told COA that four of the nine projects had been completed as of August 2026.