Five of eight infrastructure projects implemented by the municipal government of Panganiban were not completed on time, the Commission on Audit said in its 2018 annual audit report.

The report said the only three projects completed on time were: Construction of Garage, P699,396.92, (Eco Builders Construction and Supplies); Construction of ABC Hall (Phase 1), P1,474,976.71 (NQA Construction & Supply); and, Installation of Burod to Banquerohan Street Lighting System, P598,668.21 (NQA Construction & Supply).

Of the remaining five, three were still on-going as of Dec. 31, 2018: Concreting of Tibo-Cagdarao Road Phase 1, P11,445,151,54 (JR Contractor); Construction of MDRRM Office Phase II, P1,697,000.00 (Tri-Ex Company); and, Concreting of Tibo-Cagdarao Road Phase II (Tri-John Trading & Const.). As of 2018 year end, the three projects actual days of delay were 260, 154 and 299 days, respectively.

Two of the five delayed projects were completed: Installation of Parallel Pipes and additional Distribution Pipes at Panganiban Municipal Water System, P13,521,218.01 (Delcare Water Treatment); and Construction of ABC Hall Phase II, P3,197,774.32 (Zeus Trading & Const.), with actual days of delay of 82 and 88, respectively.

Examination of the paid disbursement vouchers for the two completed projects showed that the liquidated damages deducted from the final payments were not accurately computed, resulting in an understatement by P242,690, which the COA said is subject to disallowance.

It attributed the delay to poor monitoring of project implementation and the management’s laxity in enforcing contract periods.

“In effect, the delay in project implementation deprived the constituents of the timely use of the facilities while failure to deduct the correct amount of liquidated damages allowed the contractors to collect contract amounts without deductions for any unfavorable actions at the disadvantage of the LGU,” the report stressed.

In its comment, the municipality clarified that the LGU issued a suspension order for the water system project due to the contractor’s difficulties in transporting the pipes, while the concreting projects were delayed by the very difficult terrain.

Among the other significant findings of the audit were: failure to collect P1.602 million in additional Real Property and Special Education Taxes; failure to prepare a closure and rehabilitation plan of the controlled dumpsite; several permanent employees with net take home pay below the P5,000 required; and, 13 projects under Gender and Development (GAD) program either partially implemented or not implemented at all.