Igbaras mayor backs COA plan on idle development funds

ILOILO CITY — The mayor of Igbaras, Iloilo, agreed to Commission on Audit (COA) recommendations to evaluate, fast-track, or reprogram PHP 16.377 million in unimplemented 20% Development Fund (DF) projects and PHP 8.081 million in unused savings.

The agreement is recorded in COA’s audit report on the municipality. The report says “the Municipal Mayor agreed to” the audit team’s three recommendations on the fund.

Igbaras is led by Mayor Juvic Escorpion, who won the May 2025 mayoral race, according to Commission on Elections results published by Rappler.

Under the first recommendation, the mayor will instruct the Municipal Planning and Development Council, the Municipal Budget Officer, and concerned department heads to evaluate whether the 42 unimplemented projects remain necessary and feasible.

Under the second, implementing offices must expedite the projects. Otherwise, the funds, including savings from completed projects, will be reprogrammed to other workable programs, projects, and activities.

The two pools of money total PHP 24.458 million.

The municipal government also agreed to conduct periodic reviews of programs and projects charged against the 20% DF so it can address residents’ development needs on time.

COA communicated its observation and recommendations to municipal officials through Audit Observation Memorandum No. 2026-02 (2025), dated April 28, 2026.

An audit observation memorandum is the document state auditors use to notify an agency of a deficiency and to seek management’s comment before the audit report is finalized.

As of August 2026, the Igbaras local government reported that it had already acted on COA’s recommendations.

Why the projects stalled

Based on COA’s verification, most of the unimplemented projects were barangay infrastructure, including multi-purpose buildings, road concreting, health centers, and birthing centers.

Barangay captains, or punong barangay, were unable to request the funds from the municipality because the allocations were insufficient to carry out the proposed works, auditors said.

Annex I of the report shows that individual barangay allocations ranged from PHP 100,000 to PHP 125,000.

COA said the finding was a reiteration of its observation in the prior year’s audit.

Under the 2020 joint memorandum circular governing the 20% DF, responsibility for ensuring that funded projects follow the guidelines and meet development targets “shall rest upon the local chief executive and other officials concerned.”

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

Igbaras, a third-class municipality in Iloilo’s first congressional district, has 46 barangays.