DENR failed to collect P521-M land fees – COA

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) failed to collect around P521.26 million worth of fees from the use of forest lands, foreshore and protected areas because of the lack of collection strategies and weak enforcement and monitoring.

In its 2025 annual audit report, the COA flagged the DENR Calabarzon office and 13 Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Offices (Penro) over millions of pesos in uncollected revenues coming from “foreshore land use rentals, occupational fees, user fees, performance bonds, forest charges and surcharges related to foreshore properties, forestlands and protected areas.”

The state auditor said the “accumulation of uncollected revenues” was caused by the lack of “collection strategies” and “adequate enforcement to compel lessees to settle their accounts,” in addition to “ineffective monitoring systems.”

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The DENR’s failure to collect these fees, it added, “deprived the government of the availability of these additional revenues for other beneficial projects.”

Of the total revenues that went uncollected, the biggest amount was traced to the Ilocos Norte Penro that, according to the audit report, should have earned P213.362 million from performance bonds, annual rentals, surcharges and occupation fees of forestlands.

The COA said Penro failed to collect the surcharges due to “oversight” while it also did not avail of a remedy through a “surety bond,” which is a three-party contract where a surety pays for the obligations of another company.

Lax enforcement

The Davao de Oro Penro posted the second-largest uncollected revenue at P94.174 million, which should have come from user fees, surcharges and annual lease rentals. According to the COA, its failure was because of its “nonstrict” enforcement of laws and regulations in the management of foreshore areas.

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The state auditor also flagged the same office for its “inconsistent use of area measurement in its computation” of fees.

The Cavite Penro accounted for the third-largest uncollected revenues—P55.969 million which should have come from foreshore areas. Aside from weak enforcement and monitoring, the office was cited for its lack of coordination with the DENR Calabarzon office to ensure the continuous processing of lease applications.

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The audit report also noted that the office had no inventory of foreshore occupants or even a database to track billing or payment history.

The COA also flagged the La Union Penro for failing to collect P49.539 million in annual rentals and Special Use Agreement in Protected Areas (Sapa) fees. Among others, this was traced to delays in the processing of Sapa applications, which allowed for the continued occupation of the covered areas.

Other offices cited in the audit report were Davao del Norte Penro (P26.879 million), Batangas Penro (P20.210 million), Ilocos Sur Penro (P16.805 million), Leyte Penro (P12.905 million), Davao Oriental Penro (P12.554 million), Capiz Penro (P8.904 million), Calabarzon office (P4.706 million), Pangasinan Penro (P4.671 million), Quirino Penro (P529,000) and Zamboanga del Norte Penro (P57,000).

As part of its recommendations, the COA urged the regional and provincial offices concerned to intensify collection efforts and strengthen monitoring mechanisms to ensure the timely collection of rental fees.

The Inquirer reached out to the DENR for its comment, but it had yet to provide a statement at press time.

In the COA report, Ilocos Norte Penro said it had devised a monthly schedule and monitoring form and established a team responsible for its tenurial instruments.

The La Union Penro, on the other hand, vowed that future Sapa applications would undergo a more “thorough” review and deliberation, and that it would improve its monitoring of compliance with terms and conditions in the agreements.

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The Davao de Oro Penro, meanwhile, said it has already submitted notices of billing to address payment deficiencies. /cb