By Raymund Antonio
The Office of the Vice President is taking the highest audit rating it received from the Commission on Audit (COA) last year as a recognition of its commitment to excellence in public service.
Vice President Leni Robredo denies accusations made by Peter Advincula aka Bikoy during a press conference in Quezon City. (Mark Balmores / MANILA BULLETIN)
The COA report, signed by supervising auditor Edna Salaguban, gave an “unqualified opinion” on the fairness of the presentation of the OVP financial statements for fiscal year 2018.
Apart from this, the OVP had previously passed the accreditation process and attained its ISO 9001:2015 certification.
Yet, the OVP won’t rest on its laurels.
Vice President and opposition leader Leni Robredo said her office wants to set a good example to other institutions in the country.
“Marami pa kami na tina-target, na ito gawing kultura hindi lang dito sa opisina, pero maging halimbawa din siya sa ibang mga government offices,” Robredo said on her Sunday radio show.
(We are targeting a lot of things, to make this a culture not only in the office, but also to be an example to other government offices.)
According to the COA, an unqualified opinion is considered the best opinion that state auditors could give government agencies, in accordance with the Philippines Public Sector Accounting Standards.
Robredo attributed this accomplishment to the “internal audit control” by OVP when it comes to expenses.
“Kami, mayroon kaming—nag-set up kami ng mga internal audit control dito sa loob mismo para may layers.
Maraming mga proseso na ino-audit iyong aming mga gastos,” she said.
(We have set up internal audit control inside the office so there will be layers. Our expenses are audited in many of our processes.)
“Ako mismo, naggagawa ako ng mga random checks. Iyong mga gastos parati kong kinukuwestiyon: Bakit ganito iyong presyo nito? Bakit ganito iyong presyo niyan?” Robredo added.
(I, myself, make random checks. I always question the expenses: Why is the price like this? Why is the price like that?)
In a Facebook post, Robredo was grateful to the OVP staff for working hard to make public service delivery more efficient.
“Thank you to the men and women of the Office of the Vice President, who, despite the many limitations, continue to excellence in public service,” Robredo said.