THE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) has found 18 official development assistance (ODA)-funded projects to be problematic, while 13 are considered “potential” problem projects.

Of the 18 problematic projects, 15 were placed under Alert Level II or the “critical stage,” while three are under Alert Level I or the “early warning stage.”

Neda explained: “Potential problem projects are those that are considered at risk, based on a checklist of project variables and characteristics that result in major implementation problems. Actual problem projects are those that are encountering serious problems, as manifested by their breaching of the thresholds of at least two indicator categories. There are four indicator categories for identifying actual problem projects; they include those on financial, physical, cost overrun and project completion.”

Documents showed that of the 15 projects under the critical stage, five are being implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), two by the Department of Agriculture (DA); and one each by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), and the departments of Agrarian Reform (DAR), Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Transportation and Communications (DOTC), and Energy (DOE), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Supreme Court (SC) and North Luzon Railways Corp. (NorthRail).

The DPWH projects are the Arterial Road Bypass Project 1, Central Mindanao Road Project, Mindanao Roads Improvement Project, Tulay ng Pangulo Para sa Magsasaka Project and Urgent Bridges Construction Project for Rural Development.

The DA projects are the Mindanao Rural Development Project-Phase 2 and Second Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resource.

The other projects are: the DAR’s Agrarian Reform Communities Project; NIA’s Help for Catubig Agricultural Advancement Project Stage 1; DENR’s Integrated Coastal Resource Management Project; SC’s Judicial Reform Support Project; and BIR’s National Program Support for Tax Administration.

Also included are: DOTC’s New Communications Navigation Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) Systems Development Project; NorthRail Project Phase 1 Section 1; and the DOE’s Philippine Energy Efficiency Project.

The three projects in the “early warning” stage are the DPWH’s Bridge Construction/Replacement Project; Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) Laguna de Bay Institutional Strengthening and Community Development Project; and the DAR’s Tulay ng Pangulo Para sa Kaunlarang Pang-agraryo Project.

“Four of these projects/programs will be closing within the year and, thus, require particular attention/intensive monitoring, namely: Central Mindanao Road Project, National Program Support for Tax Administration, Urgent Bridges Construction Project for Rural Development, and Laguna de Bay Institutional Strengthening and Community Development Project,” the documents said.

Of the 13 potential problematic projects, four are being implemented by the DPWH; two each are being implemented by the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Land Bank of the Philippines, and Department of Health (DOH); and one each implemented by the DA, DOTC, and the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA).

The four projects implemented by the DPWH are the Bacolod-Silay Airport Access Road Project; Gapan-San Fernando-Olongapo Road Project Phase II; Mega Bridges for Urban and Rural Development; and the National Road Improvement Management Project Phase II.

The projects implemented by the DBP are the Credit for Better Health Care project and the Rural Power Project. The LandBank projects are the Credit Line for Energy Efficiency and Climate Protection in the Philippines and Local Government Units Investment Program II, while the DOH projects are the Health Sector Reform Project and Second Women’s Health and Safe Motherhood project.

Other projects include the DOTC’s Greater Maritime Access Ports; the DA’s Infrastructure for Rural Productivity Enhancement Sector; and the LWUA’s Provincial Towns Water Supply Program III.

Neda documents showed that while most of these projects suffer from financial implementation issues like below 50-percent disbursement rates, only the DPWH project on Mega Bridges for Urban and Rural Development suffered from a physical implementation problem.

The Neda said the Mega Bridges project was considered a potentially problematic project because it failed to report its overall weighted physical accomplishment or slippage in two consecutive quarters.