Iloilo rejects Bayan-Panay’s “ghost project” claim over BDP audit

The provincial government says COA’s findings show unfinished and underperforming projects—not proof that funds were stolen.

ILOILO CITY — Iloilo Provincial Administrator Raul Banias rejected Bayan-Panay’s corruption allegations over projects under the Barangay Development Program (BDP), saying the group had misrepresented the Commission on Audit’s (COA) findings.

“We welcome scrutiny,” Banias said at a press conference on October 16. “Public office is always a public trust.” He added that audit observations are “indispensable tools for administrative discipline and good governance,” but condemned what he called the “deliberate distortion of audit findings into smear campaigns, black propaganda, and baseless claims of institutional plunder.”

Bayan-Panay’s October 15 statement cited COA’s 2025 audit report on BDP projects in Iloilo and called 16 projects in Tubungan, Leon, and Igbaras “ghost projects.” It also accused the NTF-ELCAC of waste and corruption.

The audit reported 29 projects that remained unfinished as of December 31, 2025. Of these, 13 were partially implemented and 16 had not been implemented at all. COA estimated that ₱73.892 million was needed to complete the projects. It also reported shortened or unfinished road sections, nonoperational water systems, and an unused livelihood center showing signs of deterioration.h

“The estimated cost to complete is not missing money. Wala ya nadula,” Banias said. He argued that the ₱73.8-million figure was the funding requirement to finish projects, and that COA “did not state that this amount was stolen, pocketed, or diverted.”

“Unfinished is not a ghost project,” he said. Banias maintained that the project sites existed and cited their locations in geographically isolated and mountainous areas, as well as severe weather, difficult terrain, and delays in construction supplies. He said the Provincial Engineer’s Office had disclosed implementation difficulties as early as September 2023.

"These sites," Banias explained, "ang aton mga projects sa NTF-ELCAC, are in geographically isolated, and these used to be rebel-infested areas. Mountainous areas, hit by severe weather disturbances, terrain bottlenecks, and contractor supply delays. Ginpili ini nga mga areas  [These areas were chosen] because these were areas influenced by the NPA before."

Banias also cited the return of approximately ₱196 million in unused national allocations to the National Treasury. “I signed the check!” he said, adding that the province returned the funds following DBM advice. He said a later joint circular clarified that unspent Local Government Support Fund money did not need to be returned, but the province had already done so. A separate Iloilo government post listed ₱202.479 million in reverted FY2021 funds.

“The NTF-ELCAC does not disburse civil works funds to contractors,” Banias said. He explained that DBM releases Local Government Support Fund allocations to implementing local governments, which handle procurement and construction. The province, he added, is committed to completing remaining projects using local funds.

COA’s report did not state that funds had been stolen. It did, however, document projects that were not implemented or operational, as well as infrastructure deficiencies. Banias said the province would address the audit observations, but called it “purely political propaganda” to use the findings to characterize the entire peace and development program as a pork barrel.