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MANILA, Philippines — Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has raised concern over the underutilized funds and delayed projects of the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
During the Senate finance subcommittee deliberation on the department’s proposed P167.12-billion budget on Friday, Gatchalian questioned the 63 percent budget utilization rate of the DOTr in 2021.
“My fear is that despite its low utilization rate, we still increased its budget. We, in fact, doubled the budget,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
While Gatchalian expressed optimism for the department at the helm of Secretary Jaime Bautista, he argued that they have “not really resolved the utilization problem of this department.”
He then asked Bautista to spell out his specific strategy for addressing this concern.
To which, the DOTr chief said they would improve their operational efficiency, strictly monitor project implementation, and be more aggressive in its right of way and site acquisition.
He also noted that in the last three months, the department had sought the release of P5.35 billion from its remaining P9.984 unreleased appropriations in 2022.
Only P3.87 billion, however, has so far been released by the Department of Budget and Management and is now in the implementation stage, according to Bautista.
Transfer of properties to government
Gatchalian then inquired about 168 of the 183 land parcels bought by the government, which have not been transferred under its name.
Transportation Undersecretary Timothy Batan, for his part, said all of these properties are under foreign-assisted projects, particularly those financed by the Asian Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
“The DOTr has already acquired possession. In fact, our contractors are already mobilized. The property owners have already been fully paid in compliance with our loan covenants, and the transfer of title po is already ongoing, together with the Land Registration Authority,” he explained.
Batan further noted that the delay is caused by the required property subdivision, which, he said, lengthens the process of transferring the title under the government from six months to one year and six months.
Delays in foreign-assisted projects
The DOTr said it paid over P128 million worth of commitment fees in 2021, which is due to the delayed implementation of its foreign-assistance projects.
Gatchalian lamented this, noting that “the delay is a cost, and definitely, the cost will increase the budget.”
Citing a 2021 Commission on Audit Report, the senator also pointed out that the DOTr still has at least P9 billion undisbursed funds from its P20.2-billion budget allocated for “various programs” – feasibility studies, detailed engineering design, operation and maintenance of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 and the Philippine Railway Institute.
“My point here is even at the planning stage, there’s underutilization already, meaning nagpaplano pa lang tayo, we cannot get it off the ground,” Gatchalian said.
In response to this, DOTr Undersecretary Kim De Leon clarified that the continuing amount for feasibility studies in the 2021 budget only accounts for P50 million of the unspent funds.
But he also acknowledged the issues hounding their underutilized funds as he vowed strengthened ties between their finance, and planning and project development groups to ensure that they “only place and propose what is implementation-ready, and what can be readily disbursed and implemented within the fiscal year so as not to waste any appropriation or allotment given to the DOTr.”