Over P432 million worth of flagged infra: council probes DEPW lapses

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Council has demanded accountability from the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) and other officers involved after the Commission on Audit (COA) flagged P432 million worth of infrastructure projects for missing technical documents.

In a resolution authored by Councilor Jose Lorenzo R. Abellanosa and carried without objection during its latest regular session, the council directed its Committee on Infrastructure to investigate the DEPW, the City Engineer’s Office, and responsible officers over the lapses.

The resolution stresses that “public office is a public trust” and cited Section 477 of the Local Government Code, which mandates the DEPW to provide engineering services, including investigation, surveys, designs, feasibility studies, and project management.

It recalled COA’s findings that the city government failed to submit essential documents such as the Detailed Unit Price Analysis, Bill of Quantities, Breakdown of Contract Costs, Variation Orders, PERT/CPM network diagrams, and complete sets of approved plans and drawings.

“These deficiencies caused delay in technical evaluation and weakened accountability in the use of public funds since auditors could not determine whether contract costs were reasonable, project schedules were realistic, or procurement procedures had been properly observed,” part of the resolution declared.

It further noted that COA had already made formal requests in August 2025 and March 2026 that went unheeded.

Committee on Infrastructure Chairman Councilor Edgardo “Jaypee” Labella II followed the approval with a corollary motion, requesting the DEPW, the City Engineer, the Bids and Awards Committee chairman, the City Accountant, and the City Budget Office to provide the Council and the Committee on Infrastructure with all relevant records and their internal findings concerning the projects identified in the COA report.

Committee on Laws Chairman Councilor Mikel Rama then made a separate corollary motion to also refer the resolution to his committee for legal review, which was likewise approved.

In a previous report, COA’s latest annual audit report cited P432,995,270.64 worth of infrastructure projects in Cebu City for lapses in complying with audit requirements.

Auditors said they were unable to fully evaluate 47 projects because the city failed to submit critical documents required under COA Circular No. 2009-001.

Without these records, COA stressed, auditors could not determine whether contract costs were reasonable, project schedules were realistic, or procurement procedures were properly observed.

Despite formal requests sent to the DEPW in August 2025 and again in March 2026, the required documents had not been submitted by the time the audit report was finalized.

COA concluded that the lapses delayed technical evaluation, weakened accountability, and reflected recurring concerns in Cebu City’s infrastructure governance, with previous reports also citing deficiencies in documentation, contract management, and project monitoring. (CEBU NEWS)