BUDGET INSERTION is not limited to food control projects, as the Commission on Audit (COA) spotted another of its kind — this time involving a state university.
In an audit report, COA flagged P1.29-billion worth of infrastructure projects in 2024 and 2025 by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
According to COA, the projects did not conform with the Republic Act 11396 otherwise known as the Land Use Development and Infrastructure Plan (LUDIP). The project, the state auditor added, also runs against the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) Memorandum Order no. 11 series of 2020.
CHED MO11 provides that no infrastructure project shall be approved or implemented by state universities and colleges (SUCs) without an approved and CHEd-submitted LUDIP. The specific provision is found under Section 7.3 of the CHEd order.
Auditors have uncovered that the P1.29 billion worth of infrastructure projects in Bicol University (BU) bypassed the mandatory evaluation and approval process by the CHEd through congressional insertions in the 2024 and 2025 national budgets.
The same CHEd issuance requires all capital outlay proposals to give priority to student dormitories and housing facilities for SUC personnel, as provided under the LUDIP Law, reported by the Malaya.
COA found that none of the five projects undertaken by the DPWH had anything to do with student dormitories or housing for university personnel.
A list attached to the audit report showed one entry in the BU’s 2024 budget and four more under the 2025 budget of the DPWH — P165 million “construction of a 10-storey Accountancy Building, Phase 1, Bicol University, Daraga, Albay;” the P500 million “construction/improvement of Bicol University-Main Campus Road Networks including facilities and site development, Legazpi City;” the P500 million “construction of College of Accountancy, Phase 2, Daraga, Albay;” the P75 million “construction of the Bicol University Integrated Elementary and High School Building, Legazpi City, Albay (Phase 1);” and the P50 million “construction of school building at the Bicol University College of Education Integrated Laboratory High School, Legazpi City, Albay.
The audit team noted that the DPWH implementation was made possible under Section 5 of the Special Provisions of the 2024 and 2025 General Appropriations Acts (GAAs), which states that the DPWH “shall implement infrastructure projects of SUCs exceeding P5 million,” and that funding for such projects “shall be directly released to the DPWH,” effectively bypassing CHEd and the LUDIP requirements.
“During an interview with the LUDIP-Technical Working Group, it was revealed that they only learned about these projects upon coordination by the DPWH for project locations. Management would then just provide a location ensuring that it is situated in the proper zone,” the audit team said.
Records show that BU submitted its LUDIP to CHEd in September 2022, which was approved in 2023, meaning all projects from 2024 onwards should have already been included in the approved LUDIP.
Since the LUDIP serves as the master development framework for the state university, implementation of infrastructure projects that were not considered in the plan necessarily makes a mess of its reliability.
“This may also place the University at risk of its capital outlay proposals not receiving CHED endorsement to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), given that the SUC is required to provide proof to CHEd that all land uses and infrastructure activities in the campus are permitted in the LUDIP before project proposals are endorsed for funding,” the auditors pointed out.
While the LUDIP law expressly stated that construction of student dormitories and housing sites for university employees are priorities for funding and land allocation, the COA noted that such projects were excluded in the 2024 and 2025 capital outlay proposals.
“While the final approval of budget proposals rests with the DBM, the university, as a proponent agency, is expected to specifically identify and advocate for dormitory and housing projects in its LUDIP and annual budget proposals,” it said.
“Students and employees of the university continue to have limited access to adequate on-campus housing, which may affect their academic and working conditions,” it added.
Despite the influx of big-ticket projects from the DPWH, the COA called attention to several university projects started in 2022 that remain incomplete, including the P74.69 million BU College of Medicine Building extension that broke ground in November 2022 but was still suspended after contract termination at only 64.15 percent.
Another unfinished project was the P35 million two-storey Bicol University College of Agriculture and Forestry (BUCAF) student dormitory, which began in February 2022 but remains at 59.02 percent completion stage after contract termination.
In its reply to the audit observations, the BU management said the DPWH projects were not included in the LUDIP “because they were subsequent congressional insertions into the General Appropriations Act, which means they were authorized through legislative measures.”
The BU said it exercised due diligence to ensure that the externally initiated projects were carefully placed within the correct zoning plan of the university.
It said it is preparing a revised LUDIP for the CHEd to formalize the inclusion of the said projects.