• COA declines comment, willing to simplify requirements
• COA independent constitutional body, solons remind Rody
• DSWD flagged for P780m in unused COVID cash aid
• DepEd flagged for P20b unspent budget in 2020
• Ports body flagged for infinity pool worth P10M
President Rodrigo Duterte told the Commission on Audit (COA) to stop flagging government agencies, saying that publishing an incomplete report gives the impression that the agency is tainted with corruption.
“Stop that flagging, goddamnit. You make a report. Do not flag and do not publish it because it will condemn the agency or the person that you are flagging,” Duterte said in his weekly public address Monday night.
“The flagging is spelled f-l-a-g-g-e-d. what you did is f-l-o-g-g-i-n-g. Flogging, beat, and yet you know that when you flag, there is already a taint of corruption by perception. You cannot… You know, this COVID-19 will never be won by the way you are behaving.”
COA on Tuesday declined to comment on Duterte’s tirade, but said it published audit reports for the sake of transparency.
It also said it is willing to simplify some of its requirements from government agencies in the annual audit process, COA chairperson Michael Aguinaldo said on Tuesday during the commission’s briefing before the House committee on public accounts on the reported Department of Health discrepancies.
Aguinaldo denied to the House panel that DOH was not given a chance and clarified that the agency has 60 days to act on the COA's recommendations. He explained that the 2020 report covers transactions as of December 31, 2020, as submitted around February 2021.
"We know it's pandemic… we know that some adjustments have to be made… we know that there's certain priorities we need to consider at this time, especially allowances and the like," he added.
Duterte said the “deficiencies” in the handling of COVID-19 funds by the DOH was not the issue.
"To the issue of whether money has been stolen, that is pure bulls**t. It's impossible for them to steal P67.3 billion. The papers they are holding in their custody are really insufficient and deficient," he said.
“You know this is an emergency. It is a matter of life or death. So, you have to understand and give it a little elbow room to move, make emergency purchases, and borrow money,” he said.
Duterte dismissed the latest COA findings as "insufficient" and "deficient," which, he said, only point to incomplete paperwork, not corruption.
In defending the DoH as he has in the past, the President told the COA to stop publishing its annual audit reports, which he said tarnishes the image of public officials.
He also urged Cabinet members to ignore the audit agency, which continued to flag other agencies, including the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) for spending P10.83 million to build an infinity pool in its North Luzon office in 2020.
In its 2020 audit report on the DOH, the COA said the health department had not maximized the use of pandemic funds worth P66.28 billion.
It found irregularities in the procurement process, lack of documentation in various contracts entered into by the department, and lapses in implementation of several projects involving at least P3.97 billion.
The Palace on Tuesday dialed back on Duterte’s remarks, denying that he had threatened COA.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte just "expressed frustration" at COA for flagging the DOH in its efforts to stop the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I don't think he made threats; he expressed frustration," Roque said.
“He is frustrated because the public viewed COA’s initial observations on DOH with condemnation.”
He said all investigations into the COA findings would continue despite the President’s remarks.
"The President has no power to prevent the House nor the Senate from investigating. The President cannot control the Ombudsman if it can investigate," he said in a press briefing.
The Constitution also protects the independence of COA "from appointment, to tenure, to fiscal autonomy," Roque added.
Roque said protocol dictates agencies should be given a chance to answer COA’s initial observations before a final report is issued. But by releasing its initial observations on the DOH, auditors "unnecessarily" alarmed the public.
Duterte’s rant was the latest in a series of tirades against COA.
In 2019, Duterte spoke about kidnapping and torturing COA personnel and criticized the agency for its accountability rules on the spending of government funds.
In 2018, he urged local officials to defy the “stupid” COA circulars and even told Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos to push a COA employee down the stairs after being told that state auditors do not allow cash advances for building materials.
Senator Panfilo Lacson said the President was out of line in publicly castigating the COA for “performing its mandate and responsibility to the people and the Constitution." He said Duterte could not dictate to the audit agency, which is not under the Office of the President.
COA's findings are public records that are important for transparency so that everyone knows how public funds are spent, Lacson said.
“The COA should not be cowed by intimidating statements, even those coming from the Chief Executive," he said.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman added: "The right of the people to information cannot be negated and quashed by invoking that officials should be shielded from 'corruption by perception'."
The COA's documents and reports, Lagman said, were "thoroughly reviewed and documented" which is why Duterte should instead prosecute the officials it flagged.
He said COA had an obligation to disclose any negligence by government departments and agencies in how they spend their respective budgets.
The President’s attack did not stop the COA from also calling the attention of the Department of Education over P20.16 billion in unused funds in 2020, as well as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA).
In a letter to Education Secretary Leonor Briones, COA director IV
Elinore Lavilla asked that the department report on actions taken on the audit recommendations from the date of receipt of the report.
COA said the department’s consolidated financial statements were “materially misstated” by P15.47 billion due to errors, omissions and improper accounting treatment of transactions that are considered as departures from the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
State auditors also called the attention of department on the P8-billion deficiency in its Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP) amid the COVID-19 pandemic, citing supposed lapses in budget utilization, flawed or delayed procurement and delivery of self-learning modules, and the non-compliance with the Government Procurement Reform Act.
The COA also called the attention of the DSWD for failure to use P780.71 million in financial assistance in 2020 for those affected by the enhanced community quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a 2020 annual report, state auditors flagged the agency’s field offices in the Cordillera Autonomous Region, and Regions 2, 7, 8 and 11 for unused cash aid “due to the inclusion of unqualified beneficiaries in the master list, and consequentially, depriving at least 139,300 families who are qualified for the program.”
The commission said 14,200 families in CAR, 4,762 families in Region 2, 28,978 families in Region 7, 45,609 families in Region 8 and 45,751 families in Region 11 were deprived of the government financial assistance.
“Given the scarcity of government resources for COVID-19 expenses, there is a dire need to properly evaluate targeted beneficiaries through proper coordination and monitoring, and proper and efficient validation that could maximize the number of qualified beneficiaries who could benefit from the SAP,” the report read, referring to the social amelioration program.
The COA also flagged the PPA for the installation of a P10.83 million infinity pool in its North Luzon office in 2020.
In a 2020 audit report, the commission called the attention of PPA for the construction of the pool and additional room at the training center compound of the Ports Management Office-Northern Luzon in San Fernando City, La Union.
The state auditors said the construction of both structures was “unnecessary,” citing the need to dismantle a newly built canopy and perimeter fence that resulted in “improper and wasteful” use of public funds.
COA told the PPA management to hold the officials liable for the “unnecessary expenditures.”
The agency sent the audit report to PPA on July 22.
