More audit of gov’t projects pushed

Civil society groups, educational institutions and other private sector organizations want the Commission on Audit (COA) to scrutinize further government spending on big infrastructure projects and social assistance programs, and are even willing to share their resources to get it done.

The COA said that the dialogue it held with civil society organizations (CSOs), state universities and colleges, higher education institutions and professional organizations in the past three months revealed a greater demand for more audits on government’s social and infrastructure projects.

“Disaster fund utilization, disaster preparedness and rehabilitation; solid waste management; pabahay program for informal-settler families; Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps); scholarship programs; and road construction and rehabilitation were among the suggested audit topics that emerged during the discussions,” the COA said.

“Civil society organizations also identified resources they have volunteered to share in case of partnership with COA for specific citizen participatory audit engagements,” it added.

The COA held a citizen participatory audit dialogues with the private sector last Dec. 12 at the COA State Accounting and Auditing Development Office (SAADO) in Quezon City, on Jan. 10, this year at the COA Regional Training Center in San Fernando, Pampanga and on Jan. 18 at the COA Professional Development Center (PDC) in Quezon City.

The COA assured the private sector the suggestions raised during the dialogues will serve as input in its next strategic audit planning.

“Partnering with citizens in performing our auditing mandate is one of the best things that ever happened to the COA. Even this one-day activity...not only brought out recommendations on what the COA should work on in auditing and in the other areas of its functions, but also, the various resources that CSOs have volunteered to provide when they partner with us,” COA chairperson Michael Aguinaldo said.

The government’s infra and social assistance projects are among those that received the biggest funding for 2018 on top of several foreign loans.

Under the national budget for 2018, a total of P1.097 trillion was allocated for the infra program, while the P89.4 billion was earmarked for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps, the government’s flagship anti-poverty initiative.