THE Toledo City Government’s failure to implement various development projects worth P373 million hampered the delivery of basic services to its constituents, state auditors said.
In its 2018 annual audit report, the Commission on Audit (COA) found that the total amount of P373,013,986.18 under the 20 percent development fund for current and continuing appropriations remained unutilized as of December 2018.
Among the development projects that have yet to be implemented is the improvement of the Toledo City Hospital at P33.5 million.
The City Government has a grand total current and continuing appropriations of P688,675,558.71.
Of the amount, some P440.6 million was set aside for calendar year 2018, while the remaining P247.9 million came from appropriations in prior years.
But upon perusal of its Statement of Appropriation, Allotments, Obligations and Balances, state auditors found that out of the current and continuing appropriations, only 46 percent, or some P315,658,572.53, was obligated.
Moreover, the COA found that the bulk of the unimplemented programs was under capital outlay.
Section 3(e) of Republic Act (RA) 992, or the Revised Budget Act, defines capital outlay or capital expenditures as the purchase of goods and services of a longer life expectancy extending beyond the fiscal year and which add to the assets of the government, except furniture and equipment usually used in the conduct of normal government operations.
Unimplemented projects under calendar year 2018 include agricultural and fisheries projects, construction of sanitary landfill perimeter fence, construction of leachate treatment pond and construction of wastewater system, among others.
Those that were not implemented in prior years, on the other hand, include barangay development projects (2015 to 2017); purchase and development of land for relocation of informal settlers and victims of calamity in 2017; construction of a material recovery facility and purchase of garbage trucks; community organization, finance, infrastructure programs and project activities (2015 to 2016); socialized housing and resettlement project; proposed construction of airstrip and airport facilities in 2018; and drainage system improvement in 2013, among others.
“The non-implementation of various development projects during the year hampered the delivery of basic services to the constituents of Toledo City. This may mean additional work load for the implementing offices in the succeeding year. It may also render the programs irrelevant, especially those projects programmed in prior years which still remain unimplemented,” the COA report said.
State auditors also noted that among those that remained unused was the allocation for the improvement of the Toledo City Hospital at P33,528,338.07.
This is broken down into as follows: improvement of hospital facilities and equipment at P16 million; construction and/or improvement of Toledo Hospital at P10 million; construction of operating room, delivery room, pediatrics, water treatment facility at P5 million; construction of hospital block and reinforced concrete vaults for hazardous waste at P2 million; and construction of other hospital facilities at P528,338.07.
Representatives of the City Government, though, lamented that the projects were not implemented as planned due to the changes in the local chief executive brought about by the suspension and resumption of then mayor John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña.
The Office of the Ombudsman suspended Osmeña for one year without pay for grave abuse of authority in August 2017.
The case stemmed from Osmeña’s “consistent and undue refusal” to release the quarterly real property tax shares of Barangay Daanglungsod.
Osmeña began serving his one-year suspension on Sept. 14, 2017. He returned to his office in May 2018 after his lawyer, Inocencio dela Cerna, secured a decision from the Court of Appeals’ (CA) 19th Division.
In a decision on May 10, 2018, the CA reversed the ombudsman’s decision, which earlier indicted Osmeña of six counts of violation of Section 3(e) of RA 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
State auditors recommend that the Toledo City Government direct the different implementing offices to execute all projects planned for implementation during the year and to submit accomplishment reported on a monthly or quarterly basis to the City Planning and Development Coordinator (CPDC).
They also recommend that the City advise CPDC to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the projects and submit periodic reports to the city mayor incorporating issues and concerns affecting execution of projects copy furnished the COA.
Likewise, state auditors recommend that the CPDC schedule the implementation of projects in coordination with the implementing offices by apportioning the number of projects to be implemented within the fourth quarter of the year.