Davao just 9th richest PH city

BACOLOD - Despite earning praises for being child-friendly, providing free medical services for indigent patients from all over Mindanao, and having the best stateof-the-art Central 911 Emergency Response and Public Safety and Security Center, Davao City is but the ninth richest city in the country, according to the 2016 Annual Financial Report for Local Government Units of the Commission on Audit (COA).

Quezon is now the richest city in the country with P59 billion worth of assets while Makati slid down to number two with P54.850 billion.

Manila has P36.102 billion; Cebu, P32.623 billion; Pasig, P29.899 billion; Taguig, P16.267 billion; Pasay, P14.953 billion; Caloocan, P14.701 billion; Davao, P9.898 billion; and Iligan, P9.897 billion.

The COA report, signed by Chairperson Michael Aguinaldo on September 25, was submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

Aguinaldo said the report contains the local govern- ment units’ financial position as of December 31, 2016, financial performance, changes in net assets/equity, cash flows, comparison of budget and actual amounts.

According to the report, Negros Occidental maintained its ranking last year while neighboring Negros Oriental, which ranked fifth in 2015, was out of the list in 2016.

Of the top 10 richest provinces, Cebu and Rizal also remained at the first and second spot, with total assets of P32.429 billion and P11.730 billion, respectively. At third is Negros Occidental with a revenue of P4.726 billion.

Other provinces with high net worth were Batangas with P9.978 billion; Bulacan, P8.963 billion; Palawan, P8.198 billion; Iloilo, P8.143 billion; Laguna, P7.555 billion; Nueva Ecija, P7.226 billion; and Leyte, P7.030 billion.

Newcomers on the list were Iloilo and Nueva Ecija, bumping off Negros Oriental, which has total assets of P6.920 billion, and Cavite in the top 10.

Among the municipalities, Cainta, Rizal, remained the richest town with P3.510 billion worth of assets followed by Limay, Bataan, with P2.540 billion; Mariveles, Bataan with P2.103 billion; Sual, Pangasinan with P2.036 billion; Sto. Tomas, Batangas with P1.513 billion; Claver, Surigao del Norte with P1.475 billion; Binangonan, Rizal with P1.465 billion; Polomok, South Cotabato with P1.433 billion; and Taytay, Rizal with P1.372 billion.

The richest region in the country, based on the COA report, is National Capital Region with P280 billion worth of assets while the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao posted the lowest net worth with P2 billion.