Minority senators want answers from COA

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate finance committee deferred the approval of the budget of the Commission on Audit (COA), with minority senators wanting to ask questions of the agency.

Committee chairman Francis Escudero said members of the minority told him they have more questions for COA in the next hearing.

During the first hearing on Tuesday, September 10, only Sen Nancy Binay was present from the opposition bloc.

Asked if this was a sign that the minority senators want to pressure COA following the pork barrel scam, Escudero told reporters: “I don’t think so. There are questions that need to be answered and that COA can answer.”

“It is the right of every member to ask questions about any budget of any agency. The chair will give them time as far as practicable and within our schedule. I will not give any special meaning to that,” Escudero added.

Last month, the COA released a report on the pork barrel scam where lawmakers allegedly endorsed fake non-governmental organizations as recipients of their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

READ: P6-B PDAF misused; 192 solons tagged 

Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen Jinggoy Estrada of the minority were among those named in the COA report, along with Sen Bong Revilla and former Sen Edgardo Angara.

READ: Bong, JPE, Jinggoy ‘suki’ to Napoles NGOs

COA’s proposed budget for 2014 in the National Expenditure Program is P7.9 billion, up from its 2013 budget of P7.6 billion. 

‘One year to answer pork audit’

During the hearing, COA Commissioner Heidi Mendoza said the agency gave lawmakers one year to respond to its special audit of the PDAF.

“In verifying signatures, we really allotted a long time for legislators to give their response and it took us at least a year waiting for their response and validating the information we have gathered,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza’s statement comes as some senators linked to the controversy say that their signatures were forged. Estrada and Sen Bongbong Marcos have said that their signatures may have been falsified.

Senators asked Mendoza whether or not COA singled out the years 2007 to 2009 to conduct the special audit on the PDAF.

The commissioner denied this, saying the audit was part of the Government-Wide and Sectoral Performance Audit that the COA regularly plans. Mendoza added that Tan instructed the COA to include the PDAF in its regular audit of government agencies, if Congress decides to retain the pork barrel.

“Now, we’ve conducted regular audit of the PDAF and we post the report on our website as soon as it’s finished,” Mendoza said.

Asked if COA will audit the years 2004 to 2006, Mendoza admitted, “As of now, there is no plan.”

42% vacancy rate 

Escudero also pressed the COA on its own finances. “Who audits the COA? Your auditor is under you. Where is the check and balance?”

Mendoza explained that the COA has its own resident auditor whose independence the agency tries to preserve.

“We are also subject to the Department of Budget and Management, and our internal auditor. We are also under the scrutiny of the Senate finance committee and House appropriations committee during budget hearings, but I do agree there is some awkwardness in the structure,” Mendoza said.

Besides the internal audit, Mendoza said another challenge the agency faces is recruitment. Escudero pointed out that the COA has 6,000 vacant positions, translating to a 42% vacancy rate.

In an earlier statement, Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto said that the COA has P2.2 billion in its 2014 budget to hire more auditors. He said that COA currently has 15,219 authorized positions but only 8,734 are filled – a fill-up rate of about 60%.

Mendoza admitted that the COA is still struggling to attract top accountants to join the agency.

“We’ve been aggressively recruiting. We’re also increasing the quality. We’re targeting certified public accountants and targeting the cream of the crop. We’re not reaching the desired numbers in terms of the recruits,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza said COA has more retirees than new hires. “The average age of our auditors is 50.”

P10-million intelligence fund

Mendoza also explained why the agency is requesting for P10 million in intelligence funds in its 2014 budget. 

“It’s supposed to be used in the conduct of in-depth investigation of auditees, to house our auditors who are being harassed, and we have many of them. There are also cases we need to provide assistance to the investigation team,” she said.

Mendoza said the in-depth investigation is meant to follow the money trail to find out who pockets the misused funds.

Aside from the PDAF special audit, the COA is in the process of finalizing other audit reports on the Malampaya Fund, the Light Rail Transit Authority covering 2010 to 2012, and the Northrail Project covering the same years. 

The Senate finance committee will resume hearing the COA budget once COA Chairperson Grace Pulido-Tan returns from her leave this month. – Rappler.com