Capitol vows to finish 19 stalled projects by 2028; Iloilo provincial gov’t rejects ‘ghost project’ allegations

ILOILO – The Iloilo Provincial Government has committed to completing 19 unfinished development projects by 2028 using local funds, as it strongly denied allegations that 16 projects under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) were nonexistent or involved the misuse of public funds.

Provincial Administrator Raul Banias said the province had returned approximately P196 million in unused national government allocations to the National Treasury, disputing claims by cause-oriented group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Panay that the unfinished projects were evidence of corruption.

Speaking at a press conference alongside Provincial Legal Office head Atty. Dennis Ventilacion, Banias maintained that the Commission on Audit (COA) had not established that public funds were stolen, diverted or misappropriated.

The controversy stemmed from COA’s 2025 audit findings showing that 29 projects under the NTF-ELCAC’s Barangay Development Program (BDP), with an aggregate estimated completion cost of P73.892 million, remained unfinished.

Of these, eight projects costing P8.178 million were reported as nonoperational, contrary to Section 5.2.1.b of Department of the Interior and Local Government Memorandum Circular No. 2023-063.

COA warned that the situation exposed the projects to possible deterioration and prevented communities from fully benefiting from the intended infrastructure and services.

BAYAN Panay subsequently alleged that 16 of the projects were “ghost projects,” including 10 in Tubungan, four in Leon and two in Igbaras.

The group also claimed that 13 additional projects remained incomplete by the end of 2025, questioning the implementation of projects supposedly funded since 2021.

Banias, however, emphasized that the P73.892 million cited by COA represented the estimated amount needed to complete the 29 projects, including 16 facing funding deficiencies, and not money that had disappeared from government coffers.

“Unfinished is not ‘ghost’. A ‘ghost project’ means a non-existent project where money was pocketed for zero work. The projects cited exist on the ground. As disclosed by the Provincial Engineer’s Office as early as September 2023, these sites are in geographically isolated, mountainous areas hit by severe weather disturbances, terrain bottlenecks, and contractor supply delays,” Banias said.

He explained that the provincial government received P720 million from the national government in 2021 for the implementation of 165 projects under the NTF-ELCAC program.

However, the limited implementation period, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, prevented the province from fully utilizing the allocation.

According to Banias, the provincial government utilized approximately 73 percent of the funds and returned the remaining 27 percent, equivalent to about P196 million, to the National Treasury in compliance with government financial regulations.

The funding limitations contributed to the noncompletion of 29 projects, including the 16 identified by BAYAN Panay.

“The critics allege that funds were pocketed. If that were true, why did the Iloilo Provincial Government legally and transparently return approximately P196 million in unused national allocations back to the National Treasury? Returning unspent allocations to the national coffers is the exact opposite of corruption; it is strict adherence to public finance laws,” Banias said.

The provincial administrator stressed that the return of unused allocations demonstrated compliance with public finance regulations rather than evidence of corruption.

He also challenged BAYAN Panay’s interpretation of the audit findings, accusing the group of turning legitimate observations into politically motivated allegations.

“What we firmly reject, however, is the deliberate distortion of audit findings into smear campaigns, black propaganda, and baseless claims of institutional plunder,” Banias said.

In its statement, BAYAN Panay accused the NTF-ELCAC of wasteful spending and questioned the implementation of its development programs in communities previously affected by insurgency.

The group challenged the provincial government to either complete the projects flagged by COA or join calls for accountability over the task force’s handling of public funds.

Banias maintained that the provincial government welcomed public scrutiny and recognized the importance of COA findings in promoting accountability and good governance.

He stressed, however, that audit observations concerning delayed implementation should not automatically be interpreted as proof of corruption.

“Our position is simple: An unfinished project is not a ghost project. An unspent allocation returned to the national treasury is not stolen money. A COA observation advising operational remedies is not a finding of malversation. We take legitimate audit observations with utmost seriousness and will comply with all audit recommendations to deliver completed roads, potable water, and agricultural facilities to the people of Iloilo. But we will not allow the legitimate work of government auditors to be hijacked by ideological groups to sabotage programs that bring basic services to communities previously neglected by conflict,” Banias said.

Ventilacion supported the provincial administrator’s position, stressing that the COA observations did not explicitly establish the existence of ghost or substandard projects.

“Ang ini nga mga observation regular ‘ni sa annual audit, wala ini na-graduate into suspension of disallowance,” Ventilacion said.

He also maintained that Iloilo Province had achieved a relatively high implementation rate for NTF-ELCAC projects compared with other provinces, citing its utilization of 73 percent of the P720-million allocation./PN