Duterte ‘out of line’: No one can stop COA from doing its job, senators say

MANILA, Philippines — Some senators on Tuesday said no branch of government can hinder the Commission on Audit (COA) from performing its mandate, with one saying President Rodrigo Duterte was “out of line” in calling out the body for doing its job.

“Dapat alam ni President, dahil abogado siya, na ang COA ay independent…dahil constitutional body at hinding-hindi dapat pinipigilan or hinahadlangan ninumang ahensya ng gobyerno,” Senator Risa Hontiveros said in an online interview with reporters.

(The President, a lawyer, should know that COA is independent…because it is a constitutional body and it should never be stopped from doing its mandate by any government agency.)

“Ang COA, ‘di dapat hadlangan sa paggawa ng kanilang tungkulin. Akala ko ba talagang kontra corruption si Presidente so bakit nila pipigilan ang COA na i-release yung kanilang mga ulat? Ang annual audit reports ng COA ay mga public documents, so hindi yan dapat state secret,” she added.

(COA should not be hindered from doing its job. I thought the President is anti-corruption so why is he preventing COA from releasing its reports? The annual audit reports of COA are public documents and should not be made a state secret.)

In a taped address aired late Monday, Duterte slammed COA after it flagged deficiencies in the health department’s handling of pandemic funds, saying it should stop publishing reports as such would taint agencies with “corruption by perception.”

‘Don’t be cowed’ by intimidation

“[T]he President is out of line in publicly castigating the COA, which is just performing its mandate and responsibility to the people and the Constitution,” Senator Panfilo Lacson, for his part, said.

He then called on COA to “not be cowed by intimidating statements, even those coming from the Chief Executive.”

“In fact, those in the COA should proceed with more vigor, courage and independence,” he added.

Similar to Hontiveros, Lacson likewise pointed out COA’s independence from the executive and legislative branches of government.

“[T]he Commission on Audit is a constitutional body which is independent of the executive or legislative branches of government, and certainly not under the Office of the President of the Republic. It has a mandate to perform, and no one can dictate on them,” he said.

“COA findings and recommendations are public documents. Transparency dictates that the public must be informed of how public monies are spent,” Lacson added.

For his part, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said COA plays a “very important” role in good governance.

“Well, with due respect to the President, the COA is a tool, a guide for the government, and of course the implementers of the law, to see if the government agencies are doing well or not,” Zubiri said in an ANC interview.

“They’re the state auditors, the check and balance of government expenditure so we have to respect what they say. COA plays a very important role in good governance within any administration,” he added.

“When COA reports come out, it guides us particularly the budget deliberations on how we can wisely spend the funds on these particular agencies,” he went on to say.

Zubiri, in a separate online interview with reporters, also said that the performance of the DOH and other agencies should just be improved instead of slamming COA.

“Yan po ang trabaho ng COA, pinapakita talaga ng COA ang mga deficiencies, inefficiencies (That is really the job of COA, to raise deficiencies)…of national government agencies and even with the legislative and judiciary, talagang binabantayan kami ng COA (we are really under COA’s watch) ,” he said.

“We’re hoping that these findings will not go to waste. Rather than criticize the findings, let’s improve the performance of the DOH and other agencies involved, lalo na dito sa pandemya (especially in responding to the pandemic),” he added.

Meanwhile, Senator Joel Villanueva described COA reports as a “diagnostic tool to determine irregularities in the operations of government agencies, in accordance with their constitutional mandate.”

“COA ensures our people’s taxes are spent on the right programs such as our health system. It is their responsibility to make [the] government accountable,” he said in a statement.

“Their reports are public for us to check and know how the agencies are doing,” he added.

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