* Three Philippine Ports Authority projects in Bohol worth P921.03 million faced 20 to 23.52 percent negative slippage at the end of 2025, exceeding the 15 percent termination threshold.
* The Commission on Audit blamed improper monitoring by the PPA’s Port Construction and Maintenance Department for failing to enforce timely corrective measures or contract termination proceedings.
* PPA held project re-evaluations in abeyance due to global fuel crisis impacts, while also addressing un-titled port land, defective equipment, and uncollected liquidated damages in Bohol.
THREE Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) projects in Bohol, worth a combined P921.03 million, were 20 to 23.52 percent behind schedule at the end of 2025, the Commission on Audit (COA) said.
The projects in Getafe and Jagna towns and Tagbilaran City were among 15 ongoing PPA projects nationwide, worth P4.095 billion, with a negative slippage of five percent or more as of Dec. 31, 2025.
Negative slippage refers to the gap between work scheduled and work completed. A project meant to be 60 percent done but only 40 percent finished has a slippage of 20 percent.
The findings are in COA’s 2025 audit report, sent to PPA General Manager Jay Santiago on June 11, 2026.
Past the threshold
State auditors said the P458.98 million port operational area with a roll-on/roll-off ramp and fastcraft berth at the Port of Getafe had 23.52 percent slippage. So did the P405.68 million Jagna Port Expansion Project.
The P56.35 million rehabilitation and retrofitting of Tagbilaran Port was 20 percent behind.
COA said all three projects passed the 15 percent mark under Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Circular 03-2019.
At five percent, the contractor must get a warning and submit a catch-up plan. At 10 percent, it must get a final warning and closer supervision. At 15 percent, the implementing unit must start termination or take over the work.
COA’s report does not say whether the PPA began termination proceedings or why the projects were delayed.
It blamed “improper monitoring” by the PPA’s Port Construction and Maintenance Department (PCMD). Warning letters went to contractors five to 10 percent behind, but completion rates did not improve and final warnings came only after slippage passed 10 percent.
“Such circumstances indicate that the corrective measures undertaken were insufficient to ensure timely project completion and effective contract implementation,” COA said.
Review on hold
COA recommended that the PCMD reevaluate the delayed projects, decide whether to terminate the contracts and strictly monitor slippage under the circular. PPA management agreed.
In its action plan, which reported status as of July 15, the PPA said the re-evaluation was held in abeyance because most of the projects had been suspended due to the impacts of the global fuel crisis on project implementation.
PPA said termination notices had been issued for projects found no longer feasible and it rated the recommendation as “implemented.” The plan addressed the 15 projects as a group, did not name the Bohol projects and does not show whether COA had validated the reported actions.
Procurement and equipment
For the P632.29 million Tagbilaran Port’s expansion project, the winning bidder’s list of similar completed contracts lacked the recapitulation or final bill of quantities required by PPA bidding forms, COA said. The lapse “raises doubt on the bidder’s ability to complete the project.”
All 15 body-worn cameras at the PPA’s Port Management Office (PMO) in Bohol, valued at P13.25 million, were nonoperational, unusable or defective and the maintenance period had expired.
Eight multifunction radios were used only in special operations and hampered by weak signals. PMO Bohol said 13 cameras now work and the other two were referred to the head office for repair or replacement. It said port police use the radios daily.
Untitled land
COA found 168,047.66 square meters of port land in Bohol, valued at P1.971 billion, without titles. Auditors said ownership “was not ascertained.”
PMO Bohol said it met Department of Environment and Natural Resources officials on June 3 to seek special patents. Six PPA vehicles in Bohol also lacked government plates and one lacked official-use markings.
Nationwide, slippage reached 74.35 percent at the rehabilitation of Limasawa Port in Southern Leyte. COA also said the PPA had not imposed liquidated damages, or daily penalties for late completion, on 16 ongoing projects worth P4.389 billion and three completed projects worth P465.863 million, delayed 40 to 811 days.
Of 76 recommendations in COA’s 2024 report, 35 remained unimplemented and were reiterated in the 2025 report. / KAL