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COA finds MMDA's financial statements above board for third straight year
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Thursday said it has received an "unqualified opinion" for its financial statement or the highest audit rating from the Commission on Audit (COA) in the fiscal year 2021.
This is the third consecutive year that MMDA has gotten the recognition since its first time in fiscal year 2019, the agency said in a statement.
According to COA, an unmodified or unqualified opinion
is issued when the auditor concludes that the financial statements of an agency “are prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework.”COA, however, clarified that an audit opinion “should not be viewed as a rating, score or grade, with ranking of lowest to highest,” stressing that it only pertains to the financial audit done by state auditors on the agencies.
“It is important to note that the financial statements represent only a facet of an agency and that an audit opinion does not provide any conclusions on the agency’s level of compliance with laws, rules and regulations, nor the application of the principles of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the agency’s operations. Such matters are covered by the compliance and performance audits, respectively, which are conducted by the COA in addition to financial audit,” COA said.
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Despite this, MMDA chairperson Romando Artes welcomed the development, noting the agency’s initiated reforms on its budgetary process, expenditures, disbursement, and financial reporting.
“We have to sustain, if not improve, these established reforms to be able to serve Metro Manila better, especially since we are now reeling from the effects of the pandemic,” he said in a statement.
With the agency’s good financial management, MMDA said its personnel now receive increased benefits like minimum wage for job order personnel. It also upgraded 570 of its job order personnel to casual positions.
MMDA also started upgrading its facilities, including its new head office building in Pasig City, and continues to work on programs and policies in relation to construction and rehabilitation of flood control infrastructures, traffic management reforms, and disaster preparedness, the agency added.—Giselle Ombay/AOL, GMA News