By Perfecto T. Raymundo, Jr.
QUEZON CITY — The Quezon City local government has earned the “unqualified opinion” from the Commission on Audit (COA) for four straight years (2020-2023) in a row.
In her sixth State of the City Address (SOCA) on Monday (Oct. 21), Mayor Joy Belmonte cited the able leadership and financial acumen of City Treasurer Edgar T. Villanueva for having successfully increased the income of the City from P23 billion to P27 billion.
Belmonte reported Quezon City’s programs and accomplishments, including 9,473 business registrants as of Oct. 19, 2024; 100 percent child registration at birth; 79 doctors at 66 health centers; 50 percent of PHP39-billion budget allocated for social services; Health Information System database; fourth consecutive unqualified opinion (clean financial statements) from the COA; urban farms and livelihood programs; 1.1 million holders of QCitizen ID cards; assistance for senior citizens; and approval of new businesses in as fast as 30 minutes.
In an interview on Tuesday (Oct. 22), City Treasurer Edgar T. Villanueva said that the “unqualified opinion” from the COA means that the City Government is performing well with its policy of good governance.
Villanueva added that the COA’s “unqualified opinion” reflects Mayor Joy Belmonte’s good governance advocacy at its best and worth emulating by other local government units nationwide.
Villanueva stressed that the City Government is managing very well its finances through its programs and projects and it has no debts whether local or international.
It will be recalled that with Villanueva as the Head of the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO), Quezon City has been awarded with the Highest (Top 1) Local Sourced Revenue for Fiscal Year 2022 Nationwide,
Highest (Top 1) Local Sourced Revenue for Fiscal Year 2023 Nationwide, and
Highest (Top 1) Year-on-Year Growth in Local Sourced Income for Fiscal Year 2023 Nationwide.