Iloilo, Nueva Ecija enter list of top 10 richest provinces

The provinces of Iloilo and Nueva Ecija have earned their spots among the wealthiest places in the country, displacing two provinces earlier listed in the top 10.

Based on the Commission on Audit's 2016 annual audit report released on October 12, Iloilo landed in seventh place after raking in more than P8.14 billion in assets, up by almost P3 billion compared to the 2015 audit, and booted Cavite out of the top 10.

Nueva Ecija, meanwhile, replaced Negros Oriental in ninth place with total assets worth P7.22 billion. The Central Luzon province only posted P5.49-billion worth of assets in 2015.

Cebu maintained its position as the richest province and saw its assets increase by more than P2 billion to P32.43 billion last year compared to P30.33 billion in the previous audit.

Cebu's assets are almost three times larger than runner-up Rizal's P11.73 billion, which is up from P9.55 billion in the 2015 COA report.

Negros Occidental likewise preserved its third place ranking after posting total assets of P11.04 billion.

Batangas and Bulacan completed the top five richest provinces at P9.98 billion and P8.96 billion, respectively.

Palawan dropped to sixth place despite seeing its assets increase to P8.2 billion from P6.6 billion in 2015, while Laguna slid four ranks to eighth place (P7.56 billion) after its assets only rose to more than P600 million.

Leyte preserved its spot in 10th place at P7.03 billion.

QC still richest city

COA said Davao City, the hometown of President Rodrigo Duterte, clinched a spot in the top 10 wealthiest cities after posting a P2.7-billion gain in assets for a total of P8.9 billion last year.

Davao City replaced Iligan City in ninth place. Iligan City is now in 10th place, though only about P2 million separates the two cities' assets.

Meanwhile, Quezon City maintained its place as the richest city, with total assets worth P59.56 billion last year, up by almost P8 billion compared to the P51.65 million in 2015.

Makati City is a close second at P54.85 billion, followed by the city of Manila at P36.10 billion and Cebu City at P32.62 billion.

Pasig City (P29.9 billion), Taguig City (P16.27 billion), Pasay City (P14.95 billion), and Caloocan City (P14.70 billion) completed the top 10 list in the COA report.

As for the wealthiest municipality, the town of Cainta in Rizal is still the place to beat with total assets amounting to P3.51 billion. The town saw its assets increase by about P335 million compared to the 2015 audit report.

The municipalities of Limay and Mariveles in Bataan province captured the second and third spot at P2.54 billion and P2.10 billion, respectively.

Sual, Pangasinan (P2.04 billion) and Sto. Tomas, Batangas (P1.6 billion) completed the top five. — BM, GMA News