What made Cebu richest province in 2019?

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia says in a press briefing at the Capitol that the reappraisal of real estate properties of the province is the key to the province’s being the richest province in the country in 2019. | CDN Digital – Morexette Marie Erram

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu province was once again named as the richest province in the Philippines for the fiscal year 2019.

The Commission on Audit (COA), in its Annual Financial Report for the local government unit (LGU) in 2019, reported that the province has assets totaling to P203.9 billion.

Read: Cebu wealthiest province for the 6th time

The report was released on COA’s website on Wednesday evening, January 13, 2021. 

The province’s assets in 2019 was 471 percent higher compared to the P35.65 billion it posted last 2018. 

So how did the provincial government grew its assets by several folds?

According to Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia on Thursday, January 14, their administration’s decision to reappraise value of the province’s real estate properties was key.

“Remember, in 2019, we did appraisal in our real properties. It was a primary factor in increase of assets. We have a lot of real estate located in Cebu City, and after appraising them, their value have quadrupled,” said Garcia in a mix of Cebuano and English. 

“When we did the appraisal in 2019, the last time the Capitol made such appraisal was six years ago. The Local Government Code allows us to make appraisals every three years. That’s why we decided to revalue them,” she added.

Being the wealthiest province again in 2019 is the sixth consecutive time for Cebu. 

While welcoming the achievement, Garcia, however, said she ‘does not like to bask into the glory’ by saying that the Capitol still has a lot of work to do. 

“Well, it’s a nice title but that’s as far as it goes unless the people really feel the impact of being the richest province in the country… It presents an even heavier challenge to make each and every Cebuano realize that their lives are better because Cebu is the richest province,” said Garcia. 

Read: COA’s financial audit report for 2019 with Cebu at the top of the list

The second and third wealthiest provinces for 2019, according to COA, were Batangas with P20.79 billion and Rizal with P20.28 billion respectively. 

Those who made it to the Top 10 richest provinces in COA’s annual financial report in 2019 were Batangas (second: P20.79 billion),  Rizal (third: P20.28 billion), Davao de Oro (fourth: P20.10 billion), Bukidnon (fifth: P18.29 billion), Surigao del Norte (sixth: P16.68 billion), Negros Occidental (seventh: P15.90 billion), Leyte (eighth: P13.54 billion), Palawan (ninth: P13.04 billion), and Iloilo (tenth: P13.03 billion). 

The cities of Cebu, the province’s capital, and Mandaue were also included in the state auditing body’s list of Top 10 richest cities for 2019 – at fifth and sixth respectively. /dbs