MANILA, Philippines — The country’s richest province last year was Cebu with P208.27 billion in net assets amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the 2020 annual financial report on local governments released by the Commission on Audit (COA) last week.
The richest city, on the other hand, was Quezon City with net assets of P421.92 billion while Limay, Bataan, was the richest municipality with P4.173 billion.
After Cebu, the nine other wealthiest provinces in 2020 and their net assets were Batangas with P81.56 billion; Rizal, P20.97 billion; Davao de Oro, P18.75 billion; Bukidnon, P16.73 billion; Surigao del Norte, P13.19 billion; Isabela, P12.51 billion; Cavite, P12.42 billion; Leyte, P12 billion; and Iloilo, P11.2 billion.
As for richest cities, ranked behind Quezon City were Makati City with P220.31 billion worth of net assets; Manila, P52.044 billion; Pasig City, P42.73 billion; Mandaue City, P31.3 billion; Cebu City, P17.68 billion; Zamboanga City, P17.61 billion; Taguig City, P16.37 billion; Davao City, P16.21 billion; and Caloocan City, P11.83 billion.
The COA report also identified nine other wealthiest municipalities as Caluya, Antique, with P2.74 billion; Taytay, Rizal, with P2.43 billion; Cainta, Rizal, with P2.38 billion; Binangonan, Rizal, with P2.17 billion; Silang, Cavite, with P2.147 billion; Claver, Surigao del Norte, with P2.144 billion; Carmona, Cavite, with P2.13 billion; Sta. Cruz, Ilocos Sur, with P1.74 billion; and Pilar, Abra, with P1.68 billion.
Meanwhile, Negros Occidental was the province with the highest liabilities at P7.11 billion while, aside from being the richest city, Quezon City also had the most liabilities at P30.403 billion. At the municipal level, it was Silang, Cavite, with total liabilities of P2.09 billion.