The Commission on Audit reminded the Carcar Water District that 16 donated or purchased parcels of land covering 1,621.5 square meters remain untitled in its name.
COA listed the untitled lots among 10 unimplemented past audit recommendations, including undocumented land purchases, four unrecorded donated lots, and unrecovered funds from NWRB and Barangay Guadalupe.
In an August 28, 2026, action plan signed by general manager Edward Remo, the water district stated it is monitoring the titling and addressing the remaining audit findings.
AFTER raising the issue over a decade ago, the Commission on Audit (COA) reminded the Carcar Water District that the 16 parcels of land it had received as donations or bought remain untitled in its name.
COA listed the untitled lots among 10 of 21 past recommendations that the water district had not implemented by Dec. 31, 2025, its audit report showed.
The unresolved items, some dating back to 2015, involve payments the water district made without complete documents and money it has yet to recover.
Until the 16 parcels, covering about 1,621.5 square meters, are titled, the district’s ownership of them “has not yet been absolutely established,” COA said.
In its Aug. 28, 2026, action plan, signed by general manager Edward Remo, the district said it was monitoring the titling, as COA had recommended.
The audit report does not say why the titling has taken this long.
Unrecorded, undocumented lots
Four other lots donated to the district, covering 282 square meters, “have not yet been recorded in the books of accounts because of lack of valuation,” COA said. Auditors recommended an appraisal by the Cebu Provincial Appraisal Committee, which the district said it would request.
Two land purchases were also paid for without complete documents.
In 2015, the district paid for a 100-square-meter lot even though the disbursement voucher lacked the documents required under COA Circular 2012-001. COA said this violated Section 4(6) of Presidential Decree 1445, or the Government Auditing Code, and could delay the titling of the lot.
Four years later, the district made a P100,000 partial payment for another 100-square-meter lot without a survey plan, a certification that the property has no pending claim or previous payment, an environmental compliance certificate and an independent appraisal or committee resolution on the land’s value.
Auditors told the district to secure a deed of absolute sale registered with the Register of Deeds and a certified copy of the title before paying the balance.
The water district said that as of Dec. 31, 2025, it had complied with the survey plan and the certification on pending claims. COA still listed both recommendations as unimplemented, with ongoing compliance.
Money yet to be recovered
The water district has not recovered P40,095.77 in water charges it paid to the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) for 2020. Citing a March 29, 2012, decision of the Office of the Secretary of Justice, auditors said the payment was without legal basis.
It has since stopped paying the charges and said it “will request from NWRB for the refund.”
A P150,000 fund transfer to Barangay Guadalupe in Carcar City has likewise not been returned. COA said the barangay missed the prescribed refund period and the account has been dormant for more than 10 years. The district has reached out to the barangay’s new treasurer and plans to request that the account be written off.
Other pending items
COA reiterated its recommendation to write off dormant receivables, which its 2023 report placed at P1,633,891.33 and said had gone uncollected for more than 10 years. The other two unimplemented items are the disposal of unserviceable property and the reconciliation of a P435.23 inventory variance.
Separately, a P14,000 disallowance remained unsettled at the end of 2025. It stems from disallowances issued in 2016 over a 2015 transaction. The balance was down from P25,000 a year earlier after P11,000 was paid in 2025.
COA added that the figure does not include P36,000 in notices of disallowance issued before the Rules and Regulations on Settlement of Accounts took effect.
Among the 11 recommendations the district did implement were correcting the recording of a P3.6-million collective negotiation agreement incentive and recognizing impairment losses on its property. / KAL