CoA flags P31-B accounting deficiencies at NIA

THE Commission on Audit (CoA) flagged a P31-billion mismatch in the National Irrigation Administration’s (NIA) property accounts and P22.8 billion in assets without supporting property records, alongside billions of pesos in deficient or nonoperational irrigation projects. State auditors found a P31-billion discrepancy between NIA’s general ledger balances and physical inventory reports, while P22.8 billion in assets had no property ledger cards. Another P7.7 billion remained in inactive accounts without adequate supporting documents. The deficiencies prevented auditors from verifying NIA’s property, plant and equipment account, which was valued at P347.424 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025. “The faithful representation” and verifiability of the account “could not be established” because of deficiencies in recordkeeping, CoA said. CoA also found that 43 inactive asset accounts totaling P20.5 billion and 14 liability accounts amounting to P49.6 million remained improperly included in NIA’s financial statements. The balances were supported only by trial balances from 73 unidentified or inactive projects. Another P3.7 billion in amounts owed to other government agencies and trust accounts had remained inactive or unclaimed for at least 10 years without adequate supporting documents. Auditors also found P1.3 billion in differences between NIA’s records and amounts owed to creditors, as well as P125.5 million in abnormal or negative account balances. The audit also found deficiencies in NIA’s irrigation infrastructure projects across the country. Of 110 irrigation contracts and projects evaluated with a combined cost of P12.7 billion, 63 contracts worth P7.7 billion were damaged or had deficiencies, while 47 completed projects worth P4.9 billion were completely nonoperational, CoA said. The problems left 45,783.9 hectares of agricultural land across 660 national, communal and river irrigation systems without operational irrigation services, it added. Project delays were also recorded in 15 irrigation projects and 146 contracts that failed to meet their target completion dates. Sixteen projects worth P5.2 billion were 10% to 58% behind schedule, while 17 contracts worth P1.6 billion were terminated because of contractor problems or unresolved right-of-way issues. CoA also cited violations of government procurement rules involving 137 contracts worth P15.4 billion at NIA’s central office and seven regional offices. “These raise concerns regarding the propriety and legality of the procurement process and pose a risk that contracts were awarded to contractors who may not have been eligible or fully responsive to the requirements,” CoA said. Auditors also questioned NIA’s use of a 3.1-million-hectare estimate of the country’s irrigable land, describing it as “obsolete and inconsistent with the National Irrigation Master Plan 2020-2030 targets and assumptions.” CoA said the discrepancy showed weaknesses in NIA’s assessment, planning and verification processes that could affect the accuracy of its reported nationwide irrigation development. As of Dec. 31, 2025, NIA had unsettled audit suspensions amounting to P771.4 million, disallowances of P4.2 billion and audit charges of P2.1 million. It also had an unsettled audit suspension of $3.9 million. — Pexcel John Bacon