QUEZON CITY – Quezon City remains the country’s richest city and local government unit (LGU) with assets totalling P451 billion in 2021, edging for the second time Makati City, the wealthiest in 2019 which is a far second with assets of P238.5 billion.
Quezon City, with almost P30 billion in revenues, is also the richest city in the country, outpacing Makati City and Manila, in terms of annual income from taxes, fees and other collections.
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia thanked the COA for its report as well as their respected constituents for their continued support in terms of payment of taxes, fees, licenses and other collections.
Manila, the country’s capital and once its richest city, lagged far behind as third richest with ₱65.2 billion worth of assets.
The ranking is based on the list of richest LGUs in the Commission on Audit’s (COA) 215-page Annual Financial Report (AFR) for the local governments which was released last Oct. 10.
In the same ranking for provinces, Cebu Province remains the country’s richest province for eight consecutive years with ₱215.27 billion in assets in 2021, an increase from its ₱213 billion in 2020 and ₱203.9 billion in 2019.
Rizal landed second with assets increasing by P7 billion in 2020 to reach ₱30.6 billion in 2021. The province pushed Batangas to third with ₱29.7 billion in assets.
Ironically, the big provinces such as Pangasinan, Bulacan, Cavite, Quezon and Laguna are not in the top 10 richest provinces based on the COA report. There were no immediate comments from the governors and officials of these provinces at press time.
The report stated that QC’s assets actually took a P1 billion dip in 2021, since its assets in 2020 amounted to P452.3 billion. On the other hand, the second richest Makati City’s assets in 2021 were higher compared to its reported P238.4 billion in 2020.
Based on COA’s AFR, the top 10 wealthiest cities in 2021 are:
Quezon City – P451.007 billion; Makati City – P238.562 billion; Manila – P65.253 billion; Pasig City – P51.176 billion; Taguig City – P36.117 billion; Cebu City – P33.343 billion; Mandaue City, P33.007 billion; Mandaluyong City – P31.440 billion; Davao City – P26.556 billion; and Caloocan City – P23.383 billion.
The top four cities secured the same spots in 2020, although Taguig City managed to elbow Cebu City in 2021, the report said. Mandaluyong City was not in the list in 2020 but jumped to eighth place in 2021, while Zamboanga City was booted out from the top 10, the report stated.
The top 10 wealthiest provinces in 2021 are: Cebu – P215.27 billion; Rizal – P30.638 billion; Batangas – P29.705 billion; Davao de Oro – P23.211 billion; Bukidnon – P19.455 billion; Negros Occidental – P18.025 billion; Ilocos Sur – P17.907 billion; Iloilo – P17.399 billion; Isabela – P16.419 billion; and Palawan – P16.109 billion
Rizal province was the biggest performer in 2021, with a P7 billion increase from its P23.053 billion in 2020, the report said.
Iloilo’s assets also moved from the 10th spot in 2020 to the eighth spot in 2021, while Isabela dropped from seventh to ninth place in 2021.
COA’s report said the wealthiest municipalities are Carmona, Cavite – P6.212 billion; Limay, Bataan – P4.795 billion; Silang, Cavite – P3.738 billion; Cainta, Rizal – P3.393 billion; Taytay, Rizal – P3.274 billion; Binangonan, Rizal – P3.141 billion; Caluya, Antique – P3.117 billion; Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur – P3.044 billion; Cabugao, Ilocos Sur – P2.967 billion; and Rodriguez (Montalban), Rizal – P2.915 billion.
Based on the list, COA’s report stated that Carmona was the best performer as it managed to climb from seventh place in 2020 to number one in 2021. Sta. Maria and Cabugao, both from Ilocos Sur, are new to the list and managed to edge out Mariveles in Bataan and Sual in Pangasinan. (with Jennifer T. Santos)
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IN MINDANAO
DAVAO CITY – Davao City, the home city of former President Rodrigo Duterte and incumbent Vice President Sara Duterte, is the richest city in Mindanao.
This is based on the latest financial report by the Commission on Audit (COA) on the assets of cities, provinces and towns in the country.
In the same report, Davao de Oro was listed as the wealthiest province in Mindanao in terms of assets. (See related stories)
According to COA’s “2021 Annual Financial Report (AFR),” Davao City’s total assets increased to P26.555 billion from P23.664 billion in 2021, P19.78 billion in 2020, P16.259 billion in 2018, P13.181 billion in 2017, and P9.898 billion in 2016.
The city, however, moved down a notch from last year’s ninth spot.
This is the city’s sixth year as the richest city in Mindanao.
According to the COA report, the leading city assets-wise is Quezon City, having total assets worth P451.007 billion. This is a slight decrease from P452.333 billion in 2020.
Davao de Oro remains the fourth richest province in the country with assets of P23.211 billion. This is an increase from P20.391 billion in 2020.
This is the fifth year the province entered the list.
Cebu Province remained the wealthiest province in the country, with a total of P215.27 billion worth of assets.
No municipality from Mindanao made it to the top 10 wealthiest towns in the country. (with Jennifer T. Santos)