6-YEAR LAPSE: Some Iloilo City barangays fail to submit financial reports since 2019

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

Dozens of barangays in Iloilo City have failed to submit mandatory monthly financial reports, some for as long as six years, and have operated on delayed or reenacted budgets, according to data from the Office of the City Accountant.

Records showed that in 2019, Barangay Timawa Tanza I failed to submit its December financial report, Don Esteban did not file reports from June to December, Calaparan missed its December report, and San Pedro had no submissions from May to December.

From 2020 to 2025, Magsaysay, Tabuc Suba, Nabitasan, Jalandoni Estate, Mohon, and Yulo Drive failed to submit financial reports for the entire year.

In 2025 alone, 56 barangays did not submit financial reports from January to December.

On Wednesday, Councilor Rex Marcus Sarabia, chair of the Committee on Appropriations, was scheduled to deliver a privilege speech on what he described as a “barangay-SK budgetary crisis,” but deferred it due to a lack of additional data from the Local Finance Committee.

“We approve the annual budget of the barangays and it is already 2026, but what I am approving most of them are still for 2025 and these are delayed budgets and we saw a data that for three years, some are reenacted budgets,” he said in an interview.

Reenacted budgets occur when a Sangguniang Barangay fails to pass a new annual appropriations ordinance at the start of the fiscal year, resulting in the previous year’s budget being carried over.

Sarabia said the reenactment of budgets, along with delays and failures in submitting financial reports, leads to losses for residents and “a big deprivation of services” to the public.

Under existing regulations, barangays are required to submit specific monthly financial documents to the city accountant for recording, auditing, and compliance with Commission on Audit rules.

Barangay treasurers must submit the reports within 10 days after the end of each month for recording in official books and forwarding to state auditors.

Required documents include reports of appropriations and obligations, cashbook and snapshot reports, statements of collections and deposits, and supporting documents such as deposit slips and official receipts.

Sarabia said one remedy being considered is the passage of a barangay budgetary reform ordinance to impose a budget calendar and create a barangay budgetary reform fund to finance contracts for services and hire experts to assist officials in financial management.

He said the city government has the financial capacity to hire permanent expert teams to help barangays prepare financial reports.

He noted that while technical working groups were previously formed, these were limited to seminars and workshops and did not establish a permanent support body.

“I think it is time that we focus on this recurring issue despite the efforts of the city government. Why not have a revolutionary effort in addressing this problem?” he said.

Sarabia said he plans to conduct an investigation in aid of legislation to determine the root causes of the problem.

While some may attribute the issue to negligence among barangay officials, he said it may also stem from limited technical knowledge in accounting.