Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte highlighted the city government’s achievements, as well as its programs that helped improve QCitizens' lives in her fourth State of the City Address (SOCA) held at the Carlos Albert Hall, Legislative Building, Quezon City Hall compound on Monday, Nov. 7.
Belmonte said the city government has collected over P22 billion in taxes from 2020-2021 which is the highest amount of taxes collected in the history of the city.
“Sa buong walumpu’t tatlong taon ng kasaysayan ng Quezon City, itong dalawampu’t dalawang bilyong ang pinaka-mataas, pinaka-una, at pinakamahirap na makuha, dahil sa maraming balakid at komplikasyon ng pandemya ( In the entire 83 years of Quezon City's history, this P22 billion collection was the highest, the first, and the most difficult to obtain due to the many obstacles and complications brought about by the pandemic),” Belmonte said.
She said the city’s tax collection efficiency for 2020-2021 increased by 66 percent since 2018 when it collected P15.2 billion in taxes.
“Despite the hardship, this clear expression of the people’s trust, is the most sobering assurance that a people can give to its city. Buwis-buhay man ang pagkolekta ng buwis noong panahon ng pandemya, nakabubuhay naman ang tiwala ng tao (Tax collection was risky during the pandemic but the people's trust has made us go on),” the mayor said.
The P22.9 billion taxes collected by the local government last year led to Quezon City being named by the Department of Finance- Bureau of Local Government Finance (DOF-BLGF) as the top performing city in terms of local revenue generation in 2021.
Belmonte said the city government also received the “unqualified opinion” from the Commission on Audit (COA) for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021).
An unqualified opinion is an audit opinion issued when the COA auditor concludes that the financial statements of an agency or a local government unit are prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework.
“Ang 'unqualified opinion' ng COA, ay nagpapatunay na maayos ang pangangasiwa sa kaban ng bayan. Patunay ito sa malinis at tapat ang paggasta sa bawat piso sa QC (COA’s 'unqualified opinion' proves that the management of public fund is in order. This is a testament to the clean and honest spending of every peso in QC) ,” the mayor said.
Some of the achievements the city government cited by the mayor were the multiple awards it received from Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI), the annual ranking of different municipalities and cities’ performance based on their total scores in five categories (Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure, Resilience, and Innovation); the Department of Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) that recognizes a local government unit’s performance in the different areas such as financial administration, disaster preparedness, social protection and sensitivity program, health compliance and responsiveness, programs for sustainable education, business friendliness and competitiveness, safety, peace and order; and the International Data Corporation’s recognition of the city’s “digital user-friendly” systems.
Belmonte said the city’s budget for social services in 2022 is at P16.1 billion, which is higher than the P9.8 billion allocated in 2019.
She also cited the city government’s programs and accomplishments on health, education, transportation, Covid-19, and disaster response, digitalization of services, gender equality, security and crime prevention, social welfare, environment, infrastructure, employment livelihood, food, and housing.
She mentioned the city’s initiatives to construct and develop high-caliber infrastructure projects such as the plan to redevelop the Quezon Memorial Circle and the completion of the rehabilitation of the Amoranto Sports Complex.
“Sa QCitizen nakatutok ang ating kalinga, sapagkat sila rin ang inaasahan ng ating lungsod sa panahon ng pangangailangan. Sa QC, sa bawat piso, makatitiyak kang may plano, benepisyo at pagbabago, na mararamdaman ng mga tao (We are focused on the QCitizen because they are also the ones we rely on in times of need. In QC, you can be assured that for every peso, there is a plan, a benefit, and change that the people will feel),” she said.
“Nagsimula tayo sa simpleng kaisipan na mahalaga ang bawat isa. Sa demokrasya, nagsisimula tayo sa pakikinig sa tinig ng tao, na may kalayaang magpahayag, at may karapatang mapakinggan. Ito ang simula. At ito din ang huling layunin ng ating mga adhikain (We started our journey with the thought that everyone is important. In a democracy, we start by listening to the voice of the people who have the freedom to express themselves, and who have the right to be heard. This is the beginning, and this is also our aspiration),” she added.
Present during the event were Vice-Mayor Gian Sotto, Quezon City Police District Director Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, former QC Mayor Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr., officials from different national government agencies, city district representatives and councilors, city department heads, barangay officials, and other guests.