Metro Manila, Philippines – A House panel ordered the Commission on Audit (COA) on Tuesday to submit reports on confidential funds spent by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) for the past two years.
The House committee on appropriations issued the subpoena after ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro moved to require the audit body to release the report.
Castro said the audit report is overdue as COA had been requested to submit the document in 2022.
“Meron din tayong [we have a] circular as regards to September 2013 that provides that COA can be compelled to submit documents, records, reports, decision and information through the issuance of subpoena,” said Castro.
COA Chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba said they will study the matter once a subpoena is issued.
Castro also questioned the few audit reports posted on the commission’s website.
COA Commissioner Alexander Juliano explained that under the Special Provisions of the General Appropriations Act of 2024, COA is mandated to publish audit reports before the end of the succeeding fiscal year. This means the audit report will be posted on December 1.
“The transmittal of the annual audit report has not been changed. It’s still June 30. Transmitted po iyan sa audited agency including oversight agencies. Iyong publication lang po, we should comply with Section 99. Iyong publication lang po ang na-delay kasi kailangan namin i-validate iyong action taken by the agency sa audit observations,” Juliano said.
[Translation: The transmission of the annual audit report has not been changed. It’s still June 30. It’s transmitted to the audited agency including oversight agencies. We need to comply with Section 99 of the GAA Special provisions. The publication is delayed because we also need to validate the actions taken by agencies on audit observations]
Castro said this provision needs to be reviewed.
“Tingin ko mayroon tayong problema doon Madam Chair kung by end of the next fiscal year pa ipapakita iyong performance or iyong report, parang too late na for us na magkaroon ng plano at ma-appreciate iyong COA report,” she said.
[I think we have a problem with that Madam Chair. If we will see the audit report for the next fiscal year. That’s too late for us to form a plan or appreciate the COA report]
In 2022, a COA report revealed that Vice President Sara Duterte’s office spent P125 million in confidential funds in 11 days.
The House of Representatives also rejected the allocation of confidential funds for some civilian agencies in 2023, including Duterte’s P650 million request for OVP and DepEd.
