Metro Manila LGUs deny unpaid dues to MMDA

MANILA, Philippines – The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) thought it had more than P1 billion in receivables from 16 cities and one municipality but at least nine of these local government units (LGUs) said that they had settled their obligations.

Based on the MMDA’s subsidiary ledger on accounts due, the LGUs had the following supposed outstanding obligations, amounting to over P1 billion.

• Quezon City: P264.915 million
• Parañaque City: P143.65 million
• Las Piñas City: P131.24 million
• Makati City: P88.33 million
• Manila: P64.31 million
• Caloocan City: P63.2 million
• Mandaluyong City: P51.71 million
• San Juan City: P37.21 million
• Valenzuela City: P37.07 million
• Pasay City: P34.79 million
• Malabon City: P34.02 million
• Pasig City: P28.31 million
• Marikina City: P10.41 million
• Taguig City: P7.19 million)
• Muntinlupa City: P6.67 million
• Navotas City: P3.34 million
• Pateros: P2.79 million

The collectibles refer to the 5% share of the MMDA in the total annual gross revenue of each LGU in Metro Manila, as provided under Republic Act No. 7924 or the the MMDA law.

State auditors had sent out verification letters to the 17 LGUs in Metro Manila in relation to their supposed unpaid dues to the MMDA but only three of them confirmed that they owed the MMDA. The amounts they provided were far lower than what was in the agency’s books: Mandaluyong, P3.73 million; Pateros, P81,686.86; and Parañaque, P27,477.48.

The audit team said that the city governments of Taguig, Pasay, Pasig, Malabon, Navotas, Makati, Marikina, Quezon City, and San Juan, citing their records, informed the Commission on Audit (COA) that they had no any unpaid dues to the MMDA.

“The LGUs of Malabon, San Juan, and Quezon City reiterated their confirmation that no outstanding balances are due to the agency while the LGUs of Mandaluyong and Manila are still waiting for verification from the respective accounting offices,” the audit team said.

COA did not receive replies from the city governments of Caloocan, Las Piñas, Manila, Muntinlupa, and Valenzuela.

The audit team said that according to the MMDA accounting division, “they are faced with difficulty in justifying the basis of claims due to the absence of documents.”

In response to the audit recommendations, the MMDA management agreed to task its chief accountant “to closely facilitate the analysis and reconciliation of the noted variances and effect the necessary adjustment to correct the account balances.” – Rappler.com