The hundreds of billions of pesos spent by government for massive procurement of COVID-19 vaccines will not escape the prying eyes of auditors of the Commission on Audit (COA) notwithstanding the non-disclosure provisions of contracts that cover the purchases.
COA Chairman Michael Aguinaldo gave this assurance to lawmakers during the budget presentation of the audit agency that has recently exposed suspected irregularities in government procurement and financial transactions conducted last year.
“We can confirm na maga-audit ang COA (that COA will conduct audit). Opo, ng lahat ng transactions (Yes, all transactions),” Aguinaldo said when asked by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman if the state audit agency will look into all COViD-19 transactions.
Transactions open to audit include vaccine purchases and donations to government, explained Aguinaldo.
“We have already issued guidelines to be followed by auditors when they audit the vaccine procurement and donations,” Aguinaldo stated.
Lagman pursued the issue after being told by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez last week that vaccine procurements that government transacted are bound by non-disclosure agreements (NDA).
At yesterday's Committee on Appropriations briefing on COA’s budget proposal, Lagman sought a clarification on the issue as he is not convinced that multi-billion peso vaccine procurement contracts are exempted from various laws that guarantee transparency in transactions involving public funds.
“I assume that the COA chairman is fully aware of the transparency and accountability provisions in pertinent laws relative to the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines,” he asked Aguinaldo.
The COA chief responded in the affirmative as he acknowledged that government has indeed agreed to the non-disclosure provision of vaccine contracts.
Aguinaldo pointed out that the secrecy pact refers only to the disclosure to the public of its provisions.
“My understanding is the non-disclosure provision was a requirement. Pero kapag in-audit na iyan, hindi kami considered public (But when it is audited, we are not...),” he said.
“This (auditing) is part of our mandate,” Aguinaldo stressed.
The chief auditor stated: “I would tend to look at this as our duty. The authority of the Commission is an exemption in the non-disclosure clause.” He also pointed out that COA has “a lot of resources” to determine the prices of vaccines and the amounts paid by the government.
“You agree that NDAs cannot be ascendant to the Constitution?” asked Lagman, to which Aguinaldo responded in the affirmative.