BRACE for more floods during rainy months and extend your patience for at least another year.
In its 2023 report on the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) released on December 1, 2024, the Commission on Audit (COA) disclosed that 22 out of 58 projects and programs under the Metro Manila Flood Management Project Phase 1 (MMFMP 1) have already missed their designated completion target dates.
The 22 projects have a total budget of P510.58 million with delays of up to 310 days or almost a full year as of assessment by auditors on December 31, 2023.
The audit team blamed “poor strategies in monitoring and implementation of programs and projects” that led to several revisions of target completion dates.
“In addition, there were 29 projects with a total allocation of P371,029,800.11 that were not implemented due to non-observance of the conduct of early-procurement activities and cancellation of projects,” auditors said.
Worse, since funding for the flood-control projects and activities were sourced from loans, government have already incurred P32.9 million commitment fees from 2018 to 2023 which will continue to increase as the MMDA fails to proceed.
Out of the 58 projects, 39 involve “procurement of goods and services.” Of these, only 19 were reported finished although delayed.
There were 12 projects for consultancy services of which only one was completed, five were listed as ongoing, and six still just on paper.
Of the seven infrastructure projects included in the MMFMP 1, three were completed past the completion deadline, three yet to be implemented, and one ongoing.
Based on the review of the status of implementation, the causes of delays were categorized into four: supplier’s request for extension of deliveries, change in procurement specifications, procurement delays, and revision of contract cost or contract duration.
“The foregoing observations indicate non-observance by the MMDA of the conduct of early procurement activities. It also manifested the Project Management Office’s inadequacy of strategies to strictly implement the planned programs/projects and closely monitor the implementation,” the COA said.
It urged the agency to expedite the implementation of programs and projects so that the public can enjoy the intended benefits sooner.
In its reply to the audit observation, the MMDA management said the 22 sub-projects that were tagged as not completed within the original contract time were granted valid time extensions.
It explained that such extensions were necessary because the delays were not through the contractor or supplier’s fault.
It clarified that requests from service providers are mainly due to custom clearances, port congestion, changes of design and specification of custom-made goods, re-conceptualization, uncooperative weather, time suspensions, and variation orders.
