Threat to auditors
THE job of a Commission on Audit (COA) auditor is difficult as it is challenging. That was what I found out years ago when I and some of my batch mates in City Central School linked up for those small gatherings we periodically hold. It turned out a batch mate, a lawyer, is a COA old hand. At that time, she was a resident auditor of a government hospi t al .
I am a journalist so I was tempted to use the connection as an advantage, until I realized how my batch mate worried about the reaction of government officials to the results of their audit. I would have wanted to use some of the documents she showed me, but I didn’t want to complicate her situation.
No wonder that when she was transferred as a local government unit’s resident auditor, she told us to pray for her. It was then that I realized how much she, indeed, needed our prayers. The chief executive of the LGU she was in had a penchant to stray from the rules and to dismiss COA audit reports.
Recently, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos told President Duterte that in her province, COA does not allow cash advances for the purchases of building materials intended for disaster victims. Marcos made the “sumbong” during an inter-agency briefing on typhoon Ompong in Laoag, Ilocos Norte.
“Sinong taga-COA dito,” the president retorted. “Ihulog muna sa hagdanan para hindi maka-report.” Marcos, obviously, was gleeful.
The president was joking, but the implication of the joke was huge. I remembered my batch mate and the other COA auditors who are perpetually on tenterhooks while doing their jobs. A doubly fearful COA auditor could end up being less effective in his or her job or quit from public service altogether (okay, I also grant that majority of the COA auditors won’t be deterred).
One of the reasons why government officials hate COA auditors is because they cramp their style (translation: auditors expose their questionable ways with government money). Consider the daughter of the real Macoy.
The headline of an ABS-CBN report posted on the television network’s website says it all: “Ilocos Norte government fabricated bid documents. Made doubtful purchases, deliveries: COA.” The report was referring to a 2017 audit report on the said provincial government headed by a Marcos.
The president himself had transactions flagged by COA when he was mayor of Davao City. It’s a long list considering that he was a long-time mayor there. COA also flagged some recent transactions of his successor, his daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio. No wonder the hatred showed in the joke to push the COA auditor down the stairs. These officials don’t want to follow rules on government spending.
By the way, remember Heidi Mendoza? The former COA commissioner bravely exposed some of the questionable transactions of high-ranking government officials and helped the Office of the Ombudsman in analyzing former chief justice Renato Corona’s bank accounts during his impeachment trial. Her response to the president’s statement: “Give us respect for we deserve it.”
I say Amen to that.