Mayor Josefina “Joy" Belmonte announced Wednesday, June 29, that the Quezon City government has received an unqualified opinion from the Commission on Audit (COA) for its annual audit report for 2021.
“Tayo ay muling tumanggap ng unqualified opinion sa ikalawang sunod na taon. Ibig sabihin, naging masinop ang ating paggastos ng pondo ng bayan alinsunod sa mga reglamento, (We received again unqualified opinion for the second year. This means we have properly spent the city fund in line with the regulations)," she said.
Belmonte made the announcement during her inaugural speech at the EVM Convention Center in Quezon City on June 29.
"Good governance is not something that you achieve and are done with. It is a continuing process that requires will and determination. We stay alert and stand firm, here and now, in our commitment, and will exert every effort in the days to come to improve upon our hard-won gains,” she said.
It was the second straight unqualified opinion received by the Quezon City government, which earned its first “unqualified opinion” from the COA for its annual audit report for the year 2020.
The report was handed by COA Supervising Auditor Joseph Perez, who informed Belmonte in a letter last Jan. 31 that his office had examined and evaluated pertinent details submitted in various letters by resident auditors in 2021.
Every year, Belmonte said the Quezon City government progressively increased the budget dedicated to social services for the marginalized and underprivileged sectors from P9.8 billion to P16.1 billion this year.
“Our 16.1-billion peso budget for social services, which we intend to keep on increasing in the next three years, promises to be an inclusive social safety net for all marginalized and underprivileged sectors,” she said.