COA budget breezes past Senate panel

SHORTEST BUDGET HEARING. Senator Sonny Angara hears and immediately approved the P14B budget of the Commission on Audit. In attendance online was COA Commissioner Michael Aguinaldo. Screengrab from Senate livestream

MANILA, Philippines — The proposed 2022 budget of the Commission on Audit (COA), which has been under fire from Malacañang for “flogging” government projects for irregularities, got its approval from the Senate committee on finance following just 15 minutes of discussions.

Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, chair of the Senate finance committee, declared the approval of the COA budget and endorsed for plenary deliberations, with no senator bothering to quiz the state audit agency’s proposed P14.4-billion funding for 2022.

After the 15-minute briefing, COA Chair Michael Aguinaldo expressed his thanks for the continued support of the legislature throughout his seven-year stint with the state audit agency.

From a P14-billion budget in 2021, the COA is seeking a P14.4-billion funding for 2022, higher by only 2.7-percent, according to Aguinaldo.

Angara lauded the “nice legacy” that Aguinaldo was set to leave in COA by pushing for the construction of 54 provincial satellite auditing offices across the country.

The briefing on the COA budget could take the record for the quickest approval of an agency’s budget in the ongoing budget preparations, Angara said.