Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday, September 13, scored Ombudsman Samuel Martires’ proposal for Congress to remove provisions in the annual national budget that require publication of Commission on Audit (COA) reports on government agencies. 

“Good governance requires more, not less, transparency on the use of precious public funds. Kung talagang malinis ang pamamahala, wala namang dahilan para matakot at iwasan ang mata ng publiko (If governance is clean, there is no reason to be afraid and to evade public scrutiny),” Hontiveros said in a statement.

“The non-publication of audit observation memoranda (AOM) by the COA will only weaken the government’s ability to promptly flag and investigate irregularities involving public money,” the senator added.

Hontiveros further reminded there are many good reasons why Congress has required transparency on all levels of the public audit process, including AOMs. 

The COA primarily is a constitutional body mandated to examine and audit how public funds are used, she pointed out. 

“As part of COA's audit, the release of AOMs not only provides agencies with the opportunity to comply with COA’s recommendations, but also enables further scrutiny by various stakeholders,” she said.

 

Furthermore, she said these AOMs have been historically important in getting to the bottom of issues that involve the misuse of public coffers. 

“Kung hindi dahil sa (if not for) COA audit observations, hindi mabubunyag ang P10-billion Pharmally scandal, ang iregularidad sa UNIFAST program ng Commission on Higher Education (CHED), ang iba’t-ibang anomalya ng PS-DBM, ang overpriced laptops ng Department of Education (DepEd), ang pagkasayang ng milyon-milyong doses ng COVID vaccines ng Department of Health (DOH), at iba pang mahalagang isyu (the P10-billion Pharmally scandal, the irregularity in the UNIFAST program of the CHED, the various anomalies of PS-DBM, the overpriced laptops of the DepEd, the waste of millions of doses of COVID vaccines by the DOH and other important issues),” she said.

Moreover, Hontiveros said these AOMs are made by the hardworking and valiant COA auditors, who risk their lives and endure threats, intimidation and other dangers in the performance of their duties. 

“Huwag naman natin itago sa publiko ang pinaghirapang findings ng COA auditors na nag-sasakrispisyo para protektahan ang pera ng taumbayan (Let's not hide from the public the hard-earned findings of the COA auditors who are making sacrifices to protect the people's money),” she said.

“Let us all remember that every single peso in public funds belongs to the Filipino people. Karapatan ng bawat mamamayan na maging bahagi ng buong proseso ng pagbabantay sa paggamit ng kaban ng bayan (Every citizen has the right to be part of the entire process of monitoring the use of the public treasury),” the lawmaker stressed.