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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Yamsuan highlights approved augmentation for COA, CHR budgets

Yamsuan highlights approved augmentation for COA, CHR budgets

Published Sep 24, 2025 02:12 pm

At A Glance

  • Parañaque City 2nd district Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan's proposals to increase funding for the Commission on Audit (COA) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) have been included in the P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2026, which is now undergoing plenary debates.
Parañaque City 2nd district Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan (Rep. Yamsuan's office)
Parañaque City 2nd district Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan (Rep. Yamsuan's office)


Parañaque City 2nd district Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan's proposals to increase funding for the Commission on Audit (COA) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) have been included in the P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2026, which is now undergoing plenary debates.
Yamsuan's proposed amendments seek to add P166.68 million and P85.86 million to the 2026 allocations of COA and CHR, respectively.
He said he intends to boost programs aimed at promoting accountability and transparency in government with his proposed realignments.
“Our proposed increases for CHR and COA will not only help safeguard human rights and ensure accountability and transparency in government, these are also important steps in protecting public funds and boosting our anti-corruption efforts,” said Yamsuan, one of the members of the House Budget Amendments Review sub-Committee (BARsC).
An innovation of the House Committee on Appropriations in this year's budget process, the BARSc essentially replaced the so-called "small committee".
The increase of P166.68 million for COA will fund its digital transformation and shift to a technology-driven accounting system compliant with international standards, Yamsuan said.
COA’s original allocation for 2026 of P13.88 billion will slightly grow to P14.05 billion with the proposed amendments under the GAB or proposed national budget.
“A fully modernized COA that utilizes artificial intelligence to process large amounts of data can help it to swiftly detect patterns of irregularities and fraudulent transactions. Supporting its digitalization efforts is essential to good governance. It will enhance accountability and transparency in government,” said the former Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) assistant secretary.
He noted that the increase covers P109.86 million for the third-year implementation of COA’s Information Systems Strategic Plan and another P56.82 million for the procurement of information and communications technology (ICT) equipment and software.
For the CHR, Yamsuan proposed to increase the Commission’s P1.24 billion allocation for 2026 by P85.86 million.
The additional funds cover P51.81 million to expand CHR’s financial assistance program for victims of human rights violations, and P34.05 million to bolster the capabilities of its Human Rights Protection Office.
“There’s no question that we need to strengthen these offices under the CHR in order for the Commission to carry out its mandate of raising public awareness about human rights and investigating cases of violations,” Yamsuan said.
The Parañaque solon presented his proposals during the recent marathon hearing of BARsC. These were subsequently approved by the appropriations panel chaired by Nueva Ecija 1st district Rep. Mikaela Angela "Mika" Suansing as amendments to House Bill (HB) No.4058--the legislative equivalent of the GAB.
The CHR and COA fund augmentation were sourced from the reallocation of P255.53 billion that was earlier removed from the Department of Public Works and Highways's (DPWH) allocation next year.
The amount was originally alloted to locally-funded flood control projects.
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