COA urged to speed up audit of housing agencies under Binay

SENATOR Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III has asked the Commission on Audit (COA) to expedite the performance and financial audit of some housing agencies when Vice President Jejomar Binay was still the concurrent chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).

“Now that Vice President Jejomar Binay has resigned as the chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, I am most respectfully asking the Commission on Audit to conduct a performance and financial audit of all the shelter agencies during the period of time that he was chair,” Pimentel said in his letter to COA chairperson Michael Aguinaldo dated June 29,2015.

“I am doing this under the constitutional principle that ‘public office is a public trust,'” he further said.

Since Binay has issued a “milestone” on his performance as chairman of the HUDCC, Pimentel said, “we also have the right to know the accuracy of the information contained in the said report.”

The senator the requested COA to expedite the performance and financial audit of the following housing agencies:

* Home Mortgage Finance Corporation

* Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board

* Home Development Mutual Fund

* Home Guaranty Corporation

* National Housing Authority

* Social Housing Finance Corporation

Pimentel also urged COA to consider the following allegations made during the hearings of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee, which he chairs: (1) That developmental loans were granted to “favored” developers or those developers allegedly owned and controlled by associates and friends of the Vice President, and (2) that the sole insurance broker providing coverage for mortgage redemption insurance and fire and allied perils insurance is controlled by persons associated with Binay.

RELATED VIDEO