Soldiers patrol a severely damaged area in Marawi. —RICHEL V. UMEL
The attempt by Islamic State (IS) followers to set up an IS province in Marawi destroyed not only structures but also significant progress made by the city government in its handling of finances and taxes.
In a 2016 audit report on city finances, the Commission on Audit (COA) saw much improvement in the predominantly Muslim city’s tax collection and fund disbursement.
The COA report said that in 2016, tax collection by the city government grew to 220 percent. From collecting just P2.1 million in taxes in 2015, the city government was able to collect at least P6.7 million in 2016, the COA said.
Efficient collection
The increase was largely driven by collection of fees for vehicle and business registration, tags and stickers that earned the city at least P3.4 million in 2016 from zero in 2015.
Besides the revenue increase, auditors also credited the administration of Mayor Majul Gandamra with regularly remitting to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) taxes withheld from payments made to the city’s suppliers and contractors.
From July to December 2016, P3.4-million taxes were remitted to the BIR on time.
The COA also commended the city government for consistently remitting the premium contributions of its employees to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Home Development Mutual (Pag-ibig) Fund and Philippine Health Insurance Corp (PhilHealth).
No unremitted premium
There was no unremitted premium from July to December 2016, the COA report said.
Prior to Gandamra’s administration, the COA noted that at least P92 million in premium contributions had not been remitted by the city government from January to June 2016.
The COA warned the previous city administration against the unremitted premium contributions and urged Gandamra to direct the city accountant to update finance records and prepare a detailed list of unpaid premium contributions.
Delayed remittance of monthly premium contributions of GSIS, Pag-Ibig and PhilHealth members among city employees lead to “unnecessary penalties, surcharges and interests,” the COA report said.
“Furthermore, members or employees are deprived of the benefits and privileges due them,” the report read.
No insurance
The COA report, however, questioned the city government’s failure to insure at least P124 million in structures and other assets as mandated by the Property Insurance Law.
As if foreseeing the tragedy that would befall Marawi this year, the COA said the absence of insurance coverage deprived the city government of “adequate protection of properties against damage or loss in case of fires, storms, earthquakes or other unforeseen fortuitous events.”
In Marawi’s case it was terrorism.