LEGARDA WANTS COA TO CONDUCT PERFORMANCE AUDIT OF GOV’T PROJECTS

Sen. Loren Legarda wants the Commission on Audit (COA) to conduct a performance audit of government projects, and not just “count the mangroves planted” in its usual audit reports.

“I’ve been wanting not just the usual audit, but a performance audit … not just the number of mangroves planted,” she said during the Senate hearing on COA’s 2019 budget.

Impact on the people

“How does it impact [ the people]? Or the environment? Against [a] storm surge? How does [a project] generate more fish species in that region?” she said.

Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on finance, said the COA could also release a per- formance audit on the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

“[You can do a] performance audit of the 4Ps, for example. Have the poor become lazy? Or have we empowered the poor?” she said.

COA institute

“That’s what I want to see in COA (audits), not just al- lowances,” the senator said.

Legarda also suggested that the COA put up an institute that would train its new recruits and other government agencies.

She noted that around 500 retirees with “brilliant minds, experience, and wisdom” from the COA could train its new members through that institute.