MANILA — The Commission on Audit (COA) has told the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) to expedite the release of unutilized disaster funds and restore normal supply of potable water in areas affected by supertyphoon Yolanda, and the Zamboanga City and Marawi City conflicts.

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In the 2021 audit report on LWUA, state auditors noted that the slow implementation of projects defeats the state policies in Republic Act No. 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010.

Under the Yolanda Recovery and Rehabilitation Plan (YRRP), out of P75.953 million funds, P64.736 million were disbursed to water districts with P11.217 million remaining to be disbursed.

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“The long delay of seven years in the implementation of the YRRP projects deprived the beneficiaries of the much needed assistance thus, not consistent with the policy of the State to lessen the impact of calamity and help the communities affected by the typhoon to rebuild and go back to their normal lives,” the audit team noted.

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Also, out of P660 million Yolanda funds for the National Housing Authority, P68.464 million remains unutilized by LWUA after the rest of the funds were distributed to water districts.

The LWUA management told auditors that for the YRRP and the NHA programs, it continuously communicates with the beneficiaries for the submission of necessary documents to expedite the release of funds.

“However, due to pandemic, a slow pace in work was experienced,” the audit team noted.

For the water and sanitation systems project for Zamboanga City under the Z3R program, only P85.766 million were downloaded to the Zamboanga City Water District out of total funds amounting to P527.075 million, leaving P441.309 million unreleased and unutilized funds.

“Delays in the implementation and execution of the project for the Z3R Program defeat the purpose of the DRRM (Disaster Risk Reduction and Management) fund to provide immediate response to the needs of the intended beneficiaries to restore the normal supply of potable water and prevent disruption in cases of conflict and disasters,” the audit team said.

For the recovery of Marawi City, a total of P181.385 million was received by LWUA for the improvement of water supply and sewerage system of the city, but only P38.068 million were released to the water district, leaving an unreleased amount of P143.317 million.

“Management informed that the delays in the implementation of the project was due to failed biddings, project site issues, and lack of signatories,” the auditors noted.

The audit team reiterated their recommendation, which they also made in the 2020 report, that the LWUA management should fast-track the release of unutilized disaster funds to lessen the impact of disasters and restore normal supply of potable water.

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