QUEZON CITY remained the richest in terms of assets among 146 cities in the country in 2021 with P451 billion, according to a report by state auditors released on Monday.
The Commission on Audit (CoA) said in its Annual Financial Report on Local Governments that Quezon City — the biggest in the capital region Metro Manila in terms of land area and population — maintained the top spot despite a P1-billion drop in assets from P452 billion in 2020.
Makati and Manila came in second and third with P238.56 billion and P65.25 billion, respectively.
Pasig followed with P51.17 billion, then Taguig with P36.11 billion.
Cebu, the biggest urban center in central Philippines, was sixth with P33.34 billion. It was followed by neighboring Mandaue with P33 billion.
Mandaluyong ranked eighth with P31.44 billion while another Metro Manila City, Caloocan was tenth with P23.38 billion.
Davao, the only city in southern Philippines within the top 10, ranked ninth with P26.55 billion.
Among 81 provinces, Cebu was the wealthiest with P215.27 billion in assets, followed by Rizal with P30.63 billion, CoA said in the same report.
Other provinces in the top 10 were: Batangas, P29.7 billion; Davao de Oro, P23.21 billion; Bukidnon, P19.45 billion; Negros Occidental, P18.02 billion; Ilocos Sur, P17.9 billion; Iloilo, P17.39 billion; Isabela, P16.41 billion; and Palawan, P16.1 billion.
State Auditors reported 1,676 or 97.7% of the 1,715 local government units —including 81 provinces, 146 cities and 1,488 municipalities — submitted financial statements for the audit. Around 22,680 barangays and the Bangsamoro government also submitted reports to CoA. — Matthew Carl L. Montecillo