The Commission on Audit office in Quezon City. (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has asked the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) to start collecting past dues from businesses in the area — particularly those that have been delayed from 31 days to 10 years already — a total of P148.101 million.
According to COA’s 2020 audit report for CEZA, these payments should be collected immediately especially as there had been a stark increase in uncollected funds — increasing from just P92.70 in 2019 to P157.0 million as of Dec. 31, 2020.
COA said that CEZA could have used these funds to aid its operations.
About 95 percent of the uncollected obligations — or P140.706 million — are due from First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corp. (FCLRC) and P1.272 million are due from North Cagayan Gaming and Amusement Corp. (NCGAC).
These are for CEZA’s shares in their earnings from interactive and land-based gaming schemes.
Aside from these, COA noted that P14.67 million of the unpaid accounts also included still unsettled rental fees.
COA asked CEZA to coordinate immediately with the companies concerned and to assess whether they would be able to pay the dues given that the COVID-19 pandemic had altered business operations in the area.
“We recommended that Management coordinate with its debtors, especially FCLRC, to gather data to be used to reassess the credit risk on past due accounts taking into consideration the impact of the pandemic on their operations; Prepare the necessary adjustment for loss allowance, if warranted,” COA said.
“[Management must] intensify collection strategies to maximize utilization of funds for other programs/ projects,” it added.
COA said that CEZA had responded to their recommendations, vowing to coordinate with the companies concerned.
CEZA said that there were also dormant accounts — amounting to around P163,504 — that were supposed to be receivables but were from companies no longer connected with CEZA.