Government agencies should not be afraid of being called out by the Commission on Audit (COA) if they did nothing wrong or had no intention of doing so.
Leaders of the Senate said this Thursday, September 2, after vaccine czar and National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr., in an interview with CNN Philippines, lamented that "most" government agencies are now wary of getting adverse reports from state auditors for fear of "being dragged in Senate hearings."
"You have nothing to worry if you're not doing anything wrong!" Senate President Vicente Sotto III said in a text message to the Manila Bulletin when asked about Galvez' statements.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon shared this view as he found Galvez' statement "baseless".
"Kung wala silang intensyon na gumawa ng masama, wala naman silang dapat katakutan, eh. Eh kung hindi po maganda ang kanilang ginagawa, yong COA po nandyan (If they have no intention of doing anything wrong, then they have nothing to be afraid of. But if they are doing something questionable, the COA is there to check)," Drilon told reporters in an online interview.
The opposition senator also maintained that Congress, besides COA, has the responsibility to make sure that public funds are being spent properly.
"Tungkulin po natin na bantayan ang pera ng taumbayan. Tungkulin po ng Commission on Audit na bantayan ang gastos ng gobyerno. Tungkulin po ng Senado at ng Kamara de Representante na tingnan ang peformance ng different agencies (It's our responsibility to protect the people's money. It's the COA's mandate to monitor government spending. The Senate and the House of Representatives have the responsibility to look into the performance of different agencies)," he reiterated.
"Mahirap naman po kung wala nang titingin lahat dito...We have a system of government check and balances, and...transparency is essential to good governance," Drilon pointed out.
Senator Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara, for his part, said government agencies should not be intimidated by Senate inquiries as senators only hoped to aid the government, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"They should see the senate inquiries as a chance to tell the people what they are doing and to mention what help the legislature can give them," said Angara, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance.
"Note the legislature delegated unprecedented power to the Executive branch so they could respond to the pandemic. Most of the senators really want to assist the executive respond in these difficult times," he added.
The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has been investigating the disbursements of the Department of Health (DOH) after the COA noted "various deficiencies" in its handling of over P67 billion of coronavirus response funds.
Senators questioned the allegedly overpriced purchases made by the agency thru the Department of Budget and Management's Procurement Service (DBM-PS).
Resigned DBM-PS head Lloyd Christopher Lao admitted that he may have failed to exercise due diligence and possible neglect in awarding contracts and in the purchase of COVID-19 supplies.