Duterte’s anger towards COA misplaced: ex-commissioner

He said President Rodrigo Duterte’s anger at the Commission on Audit (COA) over its report to the Department of Health (DOH) on the questionable spending of more than P60 billion in pandemic funds is out of place.

According to former COA commissioner Heidi Mendoza, the COA should be viewed more as a government partner.

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“Leaders of the world respect the supreme audit institution. Ang COA po ang supreme audit institution. Nasa Constitution po yan… Wala pong basehan ang galit. Misplaced ang galit,” insisted Mendoza, who was also previously appointed as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services.

She joked that the COA looked like “guardian angels” who focused on the shoulders of public officials and said they were looking for evidence on how the people’s money was spent.

Mendoza added that although there are grounds to say that the DOH did not steal the funds, the compliance audit should not be ignored either because it is an accountability document.

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Also read: Duterte defends DOH, ordering it to ignore COA reports

Duterte’s anger towards COA misplaced: ex-commissioner

“Itong papel na ito ang nagpapakita kung anong nature ng proyekto o payment na ginawa. Itong papel na ito ang pinakaresibo o nagpapakita sinong binayaran, nasaan sila at ano ang kanilang katungkulan. Aba’y para malaman naman natin kung yung mga binayaran ay qualified,” said the former official.

He also said that the COA should not be afraid, even if Duterte is angry, because it is just doing its mandate.

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“Hindi dapat matakot and I know hindi natatakot yung mga taga-COA. At the end of the day, ito nga po ang sinasabi ko, ‘who holds the power of the pen?’ Kung meron silang power of the purse, ang COA may power of the pen.”

COA Chairperson Michael Aguinaldo maintained that they had no motive to discredit government agencies and that they were only mandated in the Constitution to do so.

Aguinaldo also stressed that the audit reports are on their website because it is also mandated by law.

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