CoA flags LLDA’s P218.8-M unrecognized land

THE Commission on Audit (CoA) has flagged the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) for accounting and enforcement lapses, including an unrecognized 4,790-square-meter land asset valued at P218.8 million.

“The land asset with an area of 4,790 square meters and an assessed value of P218.799 million, occupied by LLDA, remains unrecognized in the books of accounts,” CoA said in its 2025 audit report.

The audit body said the unrecorded asset cast doubt on the faithful representation of LLDA’s land account. It ordered management to establish legal ownership of the property and record the appropriate journal entries.

CoA also found discrepancies in LLDA’s P339.22-million paid-up capital. The authority’s books differed from its stock and transfer book by P164.79 million and from Bureau of the Treasury records by P14.31 million.

The subscriptions receivable account also stood at P47.92 million, including P47.17 million due from the National Government that the Treasury did not recognize in its records.

CoA told LLDA to coordinate with the Treasury and expedite the accounting adjustments needed to reconcile the records.

The audit also found that LLDA did not strictly follow evaluation procedures for permits to operate aquaculture structures, resulting in an excessive concentration of lake area under common beneficial control.

LLDA also dismissed or reduced penalties in several water pollution cases because its calculation system based fines on the date notices were received rather than the date of initial wastewater sampling.

“We recommended that management impose and compute penalties based on the date of initial wastewater sampling in accordance with the rules,” CoA said.

The audit body said LLDA had 58 recommendations for 2025, 42 of which had been implemented.

LLDA also had an unsettled balance of P359,498 from audit suspensions and notices of disallowance as of Dec. 31, 2025.

The agency had a P1.09-billion corporate operating budget and 272 workers in 2025, including 159 permanent employees and 113 under contracts of service or job orders. — Kaela Patricia B. Gabriel