MANILA, Philippines – The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) awarded at least 292 projects worth about P16.75 billion in 2024 to contractors who did not meet qualification standards, a Commission on Audit (COA) report showed.

The COA report, released in December 2025, found that a number of NIA offices failed to follow mandated procedures under the Government Procurement Reform Act and its 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (RIRR).

Auditors called out the NIA due to shortcomings across several stages of the procurement process. These included gaps in detailed engineering work, pre-procurement conferences, and the advertising and posting of the invitations to bid. 

Other lapses were noted in bid evaluations, post-qualification checks, contract signing, issuance of the notices of award and notices to proceed, posting of warranty securities, and adherence to procurement timelines.

State auditors found out that rules “were not strictly adhered to by the NIA CO (central office), ROs (regional offices), and PMOs (project management offices), in the procurement of 292 infrastructure contracts/projects with the total cost of P16.749 billion, posing the risk that the projects were awarded to the contractors who might not be eligible.”

In 2024, the distribution of awarded contracts across NIA offices and projects was as follows:

• NIA central office: 5 contracts totaling P5.23 billion
• NIA-Northern Mindanao: 51 projects worth P4.28 billion
• NIA-Davao Region: 88 projects totaling P2.795 billion
• NIA-Mimaropa: 89 projects worth P2.32 billion
• Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System: 18 projects totaling P1.75 billion
• Balog-Balog Multipurpose Project Phase 2: 31 projects worth P303.12 million
• NIA-Bicol Region: 10 projects totaling P66.23 million

For the NIA central office projects, state auditors raised several concerns, including “inconsistencies among the ITB (invitations to bid), the Annual Procurement Plan, and the Corporate Budget Inclusion.” 

They also noted unresolved right-of-way concerns and the use of a Special Use Agreement in Protected Areas (SUAPA) instead of obtaining proper authority to enter project-affected properties. 

The COA also reported that post-qualification and contract signing were completed beyond the prescribed timeline.

State auditors questioned why bidders submitted cash flows covering only four quarters, even though the rules mandate documentation for the entire duration of the contract.

In the NIA-Northern Mindanao projects, auditors flagged significant delays in contract submissions, while in NIA-Davao, they noted that no representatives from national contractors’ associations or accredited non-governmental organizations were invited to observe the bidding process.

NIA, for its part, assured the state auditors that it would require the various bids and awards committees, project secretariats, and technical working groups of the listed offices, as well as project management officers, to address all the concerns, starting with the full compliance in the submission of required documents.

The agency added that the respective BACs and TWGs have been instructed to “exercise prudence and diligence in evaluating documents submitted by the bidders.” – Rappler.com