Gov. Garcia wants ‘more accurate’ COA report on province’s liabilities

PASAY CITY—Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia wants to boost the province’s equity further and in doing so, she asked state auditors to look into its liabilities.

Garcia made this pronouncement after the Commission on Audit (COA) ranked Cebu as the wealthiest province in the country for eight consecutive time. 

In their 2021 Annual Financial Report, COA placed Cebu on the Number 1 spot in terms of assets and equity, reaching up to P215 billion and P209 billion respectively. 

READ: Cebu is richest province in PH for eighth straight time

Sought for her comments, Garcia vowed to continue the Capitol’s programs and initiatives, and ‘help as many people’. 

“Well, we’re the richest but as I keep on saying, that kind of honor is empty if the people will not feel that the provincial government is working for them, reaching out especially to those that need help the most… especially katong mga kabus,” said Garcia.  

On the other hand, the governor hopes that COA would come up with a ‘more accurate’ report on Cebu province’s financial report.

Garcia said some of the over P5.8 billion liabilities should not be considered as liabilities. 

“Well, the impression is we have liabilities, we have outstanding obligations. Some of these reflected as liabilities should not have been reflected as liabilities,” she explained. 

“We hope that by 2023, the COA financial performance report will be a truly more accurate report on the financial standing of the province with definitely higher assets,” she added. 

Cebu is also the only province in the country whose assets reached over P200 billion. 

It can be recalled that Cebu’s total assets grew by more than 400 percent in 2019 after the Capitol decided to reappraise the value of all province-owned real properties, most of which were located in prime locations. 

/bmjo