‘We pass COA audit’: House Sec Gen on Duterte’s tirade on House being rotten

House of Representatives Secretary General Reginald Velasco shows the president’s seat at a holding room in Congress as preparations for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s second State of the Nation on July 24 nears completion. (File photo taken on July 17, 2023 from INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ)

MANILA, Philippines — The secretary general of House of Representatives is in agreement with the view of former president Rodrigo Duterte — that government expenditures should be fully auditable.

He said the chamber has passed the review of Commission on Audit (COA).

Velasco made the statement on Wednesday in reaction to the tirades of former President in an interview over SMNI broadcast network.

This, however, is not the main point of the matter.

The former chief executive had accused House of being the most rotten institution in the country.

He had claimed the lawmakers’ pork barrels are unlimited.

Duterte had also alleged that House Speaker Martin Romualdez is distributing these public funds to lawmakers.

READ: How House removed, reduced the confidential funds of gov’t agencies 

READ: Some agencies’ secret funds converted to MOOE items so it can be audited 

On this second point, Velasco presented an audit report from COA.

The report showed the chamber has not received any notice of disallowance from the state auditors.

This notice is a document that will indicate the presence of anomalous or irregular transactions.

“The House of Representatives, under the leadership of Speaker Martin Romualdez, is in agreement with former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte that government expenditures should be transparent and fully auditable,” Velasco began his statement.

Then, he stressed, “As per latest COA report released only last October 2, the House of Representatives has no disallowances.”

“No notice of suspension and no notice of charge,” he further stressed.

“Ibig pong sabihin, pasado kami sa COA audit,” he concluded.

(That means, we passed the COA audit.)

Velasco also showed a letter from COA certifying that the House has not been issued any notice of suspension, notice of disallowance, or notice of charge.

The letter was signed by supervising auditor Isaiash Reynos and sent to the chamber on October 2.

The document covered expenditures for the first three quarters of 2023.

APL