ILOILO City — Despite claiming a 99.1-percent action rate on Commission on Audit (COA) recommendations, the Iloilo City Government still faces questions over P220.457 million in outstanding liabilities to barangays and other financial management deficiencies flagged by state auditors.
The amount, recorded as of December 31, 2025, included P218.559 million representing barangays’ mandatory 30-percent share of basic real property tax collections.
Under the Local Government Code, these shares must be released to barangay treasurers within five days after the end of each quarter.
However, COA found that the city failed to meet the deadlines for the first three quarters of 2025, with delays of 31, 30 and 37 days, respectively. The fourth-quarter allocation, due January 5, 2026, had likewise not been made available during the period covered by the audit findings.
Auditors also reported 79 unclaimed checks covering second- and third-quarter barangay allocations.
The findings cast a spotlight on the city government’s financial management practices even as the administration of Mayor Raisa Treñas reported substantial progress in addressing audit recommendations.
According to the city government, 63.5 percent of tracked audit action items covering 2025 and the preceding four years had been fully implemented, while 35.7 percent were partially implemented. The remaining 0.9 percent had yet to be implemented.
The city explained that some checks for barangay tax shares had already been prepared but remained unclaimed because the concerned barangays had not submitted the required receipts.
It said the City Treasurer’s Office continues to issue notices and follow up on unclaimed allocations while working toward direct electronic crediting of barangay shares through Land Bank of the Philippines.
Other unresolved audit concerns include unsettled suspensions and disallowances, unreconciled obligations to government agencies, pending bank reconciliations and requests to write off dormant accounts.
The city, however, reported full implementation of tracked recommendations involving procurement compliance, engineering transparency and gender and development attributions.
It also cited COA’s unmodified opinions on its financial statements for 2024 and 2025, indicating that the statements were fairly presented under applicable accounting standards.
An unmodified audit opinion, however, does not necessarily mean that all financial management deficiencies and audit recommendations have been resolved.
The city government’s reported corrective actions remain subject to COA verification and assessment in its next audit report, expected in 2027.
“Ginaseryoso sang administrasyon ni Mayor Raisa Treñas ang pagdumala sang pondo sang siyudad,” the city government said, assuring continued improvements in financial management to safeguard public funds and ensure their proper use for Ilonggos.
The reported 99.1-percent action rate also includes partially implemented recommendations, meaning the city has yet to demonstrate full compliance with all tracked audit findings./PN
