MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has rolled out internal reforms to prevent corruption and strengthen oversight of government infrastructure projects, following the exposure of irregularities in flood control programs in Bulacan and other provinces.
During the agency’s budget hearing before the Senate yesterday, COA Chairman Gamaliel Cordoba said the commission is addressing manpower shortages, tightening conflict-of-interest rules and institutionalizing geotagging to improve audit tracking.
He noted that the Bulacan district engineering office (DEO) had only two auditors handling 11 municipalities, three cities and eight Land Transportation Office branches after the Department of Budget and Management removed 963 audit positions nationwide.
According to Cordoba, 21 fraud audit reports were completed, eight of which were forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman, while the rest became the basis for the administrative suspension of several personnel of the Department of Public Works and Highways Bulacan first DEO.
To prevent conflict of interest, Cordoba said COA will now require all employees to submit detailed declarations of economic interests beyond the usual statements of assets, liabilities and net worth.
“One of the reforms we will implement is for all our employees to issue a declaration of conflict of interest – what their economic interests are and whether these conflict with their work as auditors,” he said.
Memorandum circulars will likewise be issued requiring geotagging of infrastructure projects to ensure accurate documentation and prevent falsification of project locations.
“Part of the fraud audit is to look at the negligence or complicity of our resident auditors on the ground,” Cordoba said. “The results will be reviewed by our Internal Audit Office so that the proper penalties can be imposed. We can submit this to you, but we ask that it remain confidential while we are still issuing our decision.”
Sen. JV Ejercito welcomed the reforms, saying tighter safeguards could help prevent a repeat of the multibillion-peso flood control scandal.
License integrity
In a related move to curb corruption, Sen. Erwin Tulfo filed a measure seeking to criminalize the lending, borrowing or fraudulent use of government-issued licenses and permits – a practice uncovered during the Senate Blue Ribbon committee’s flood control corruption probe.
Tulfo, the committee’s acting chair, filed Senate Bill 1453 or the License Integrity Act, which declares all government-issued licenses, permits and concessions as personal and non-transferable.
The bill prohibits these from being lent, leased, sold or used by anyone other than the rightful holder.
Describing the “license for rent” practice as a “breeding ground for corruption, smuggling and economic sabotage,” Tulfo said the measure was prompted by recurring abuses across government-regulated sectors, including contractors leasing public works licenses, customs brokers renting out their accreditations to smugglers and environmental permit holders selling rights to illegal operators.