MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) believes that they may resolve more than 4,000 audit backlogs in two years.
During the Commission on Appointments (CA) deliberations on the ad-interim appointment of COA Chairman Gamaliel Cordoba on Tuesday, Senator Risa Hontiveros asked about the audit backlog status of the agency.
“Sa ngayon po, ang pending cases po sa COA proper is around 4,000 plus. Medyo madami po siya. But, rest assured po ay uubusin po namin ito agad,” Cordoba replied.
(As of now, our pending cases in COA proper is around 4,000. It is quite a lot. But, rest assured, we will complete these immediately.)
Hontiveros was surprised with the figure and inquired about the time frame in solving the cases.
Cordoba answered: “I think in two years time po ay maubos po namin ito. Gagawan po namin ito ng programa.”
(I think in two years time we will resolve these. We will make a program for this.)
According to the chairperson, he will use technology to address the backlog. He said that is the benefit of being a former commissioner of the National Telecommunications Commission.
“Ang akin pong unang gagawin is aging po, the use of technology… So, ang pinaka-importante po diyan would be the aging of cases para po matapos po namin ‘yung mga backlog,” he said.
(The first thing that I will do is to use technology. The most important thing would be the aging of cases to finish the backlogs.)
The CA is continuing its debate on Cordoba’s appointment. The first discussion was suspended due to lack of time after a heated exchange between Hontiveros and Sagip Representative Rodante Marcoleta on the closure of media giant ABS-CBN last week.