COA flags LLDA over uncollected fees

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has called out the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) over its failure to collect rental and regulatory fees from several aquaculture operators in the lake amounting to P12.68 million last year.

In its annual audit report on LLDA, the COA said the uncollected fees due to inadequate assessment and collection procedures resulted in loss of funds that could have been used in the operations of LLDA.

The COA said LLDA also failed to collect administrative fines from operators who have exceeded the 20-hectare maximum limit for fishpens under the Laguna de Bay Fishery Zoning and Management Guidelines or ZOMAG, which took effect on July 28, 2020.

Records showed that last year, two fish pen operators exceeded the allocated areas for them, but the LLDA did not impose administrative fines of P30,000.

The COA said the LLDA has yet to collect P1.435 million in administrative fines from other operators who have illegally put up their aqua structures in Cataquiz Belt.

The LLDA has yet to include the practice of following up and monitoring of delinquent operators on the issuance of aqua structure permits, the COA added.

“It is worth mentioning that the recommendation to address the monitoring of delinquent operators was communicated by the audit team to management since 2018. However, to date, said recommendation remained not implemented,” the COA said.

In a reply, the LLDA said an aquaculture database is being developed for better monitoring of the operators.

The LLDA said it is committed to report the findings and recommendations of the audit team to its board of directors “to review, harmonize and amend existing policies and guidelines for aquaculture operations.”