MANILA, Philippines — Government agencies should look at high audit ratings as a goal, to prevent massive corruption scandals like the one now hounding the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).
This was the response of Vice President Leni Robredo after the Commission on Audit (COA) gave her office the highest audit rating for the 2019 calendar year — a citation that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) has been given for two years now.
“Dapat iyong lahat na government offices ina-aspire ito para pinagtatrabahuan. Kasi kapag ina-aspire mong magkaroon ka ng unqualified opinion, sinisiguro mo na iyong lahat na proseso mo malinis, hindi ka nalulusutan, maayos lahat ng iyong papeles, maayos iyong lahat na proseso,” Robredo said during her Sunday radio program with DZXL.
(All government offices should aspire for it so they would work for it. Because if you aspire for an unqualified opinion, you are ensuring that all your processes are clean, corruption does not get by, and all your papers and processes are in order.)
“So kami noong naayos namin noong 2017, naayos na namin iyong mga proseso sa opisina, ito na talaga iyong inaspire namin,” she added.
(So when we fixed it in 2017, we were able to smoothen the process of the office, because this is what we really aspired for.)
Robredo also relayed that corruption-stricken PhilHealth is not on the list of government offices with the highest audit rating. According to Robredo, fixing bad practice in handling public funds and implementing projects could start from the top, because leaders cannot wield authority if they handle funds improperly.
“Parang wala sa listahan […] Wala sa listahan iyong PhilHealth,” she added.
(PhilHealth is not in the list of offices with high audit rating.)
“Parang kapag hindi ako matino, wala akong moral authority para i-require iyong mga nasa ilalim, iyong mga nagta-trabaho para sa akin na maging matino rin. So ano talaga iyon, malaking bahagi ng success iyong mga namumuno, hindi lang iyong pinaka-pinuno pero pati iyong mga department heads, mga unit heads, napakahalaga na maayos din sila,” she added.
(If I am not upright, I have no moral authority to require those below me, those who fork for me to be upright tool. So I think a big part of the success relies on the leaders, but not only the agency’s head but also department heads, unit heads, it is important that they be upright too.)
OVP said earlier that the office again got the highest audit rating from COA, making it a streak of two years.
READ: OVP gets COA’s highest audit rating for second straight year
COA, a body created by the 1987 Constitution, is primarily concerned with auditing government agencies’ programs and expenditures, which are then determined whether programs are being implemented efficiently and according to law.
The commission also recommends disallowances, which occurs when a project has supposedly anomalous transactions that state investigators or the Office of the Ombudsman often look into.
Despite her office having the highest audit rating among government agencies for Robredo also admitted that COA still saw areas for improvement on its programs and expenditures. However, she stressed that these were not related to corruption.
Some of COA’s observations and recommendations, she said, were just meant to adopt a more efficient manner to their programs — like when they were asked about underspending for its medical assistance program.
Robredo explained that it was an election year and that expenditures cannot be made through the campaign period. During the 2019 elections, Robredo was very much involved with the bid of the opposition under the Otso Diretso banner.
“Halimbawa […] tinatanong niya (COA) bakit iyong medical assistance program namin noong 2018, parang mababa iyong aming utilization […] nae-explain naman namin kasi 2019 election year. Dahil election year siya bawal gumastos iyong buong time ng kampanya so ilang buwan din iyon,” she said.
(For example, COA asked why our medical assistance program in 2018 appeared to have a low utilization rate. We explained that 2019 was an election year, and because it is an election year, we cannot make expenditures the whole time of the campaign period.)
“So iyon iyong ilan sa mga puna. Pero itong minor issues, hindi siya corruption-related […] kaya kami unqualified opinion, ang gusto nating pasalamatan dito iyong ating mga staff, lalo na iyong admin na sila talaga iyong nag-aasikaso ng ating mga proseso. So salamat po,” she added.
(Those are some of the observations. But these are just minor issues, they are not corruption-related, that’s why we have an unqualified opinion, which is why we want to thank our staffers, especially the administration who is really fixing the process. Thank you.)
PhilHealth is currently in the thick of corruption allegations, which stemmed from the resignation of its anti-fraud officer. A Senate committee hearing has revealed that issues within the agency, from overpriced information technology items, to release of COVID-19 funds to health institutions not treating coronavirus-infected patients.
READ: PhilHealth lost over P153B since 2013 due to fraud, PACC exec says
READ: PhilHealth questioned: Why are dialysis, lying-in centers included in IRM for COVID-19?