The Commission on Audit (CoA) has recently flagged the local government of Capalonga in Camarines Norte for failing to implement at least 17 development projects in 2023, representing more than half of its planned initiatives.

State auditors said that the unimplemented projects — with a combined budget of P3.8 million — fell under the 20 percent Local Development Fund (LDF) which included the biggest-ticket item, a P2.2-million project for the rehabilitation of a slaughterhouse in Barangay Mataque.

The total unutilized amount represents 17.75 percent of the municipality’s entire 20 percent LDF allocation for 2023 and while Capalonga obligated P35.8 million, or 82.25 percent, of the total LDF, only 15 of the 32 planned projects were initiated that year. Of those started, only 12 were completed.

CoA cited a violation of Section 4 of Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1, which mandates optimal utilization of the 20 percent LDF to achieve desired socioeconomic targets. The local chief executive holds ultimate responsibility for overseeing these funds.

“While the funds remain available for future implementation, the intended beneficiaries lose the opportunity to receive these benefits sooner,” the CoA said.

“Proper planning, effective implementation strategies, and monitoring could have minimized or even prevented the non-implementation of these priority projects,” it added.

State auditors also revealed that the municipal planning and development coordinator explained that the slaughterhouse project budget was reallocated to a separate slaughterhouse development plan.