COA acting chief named UN usec general for internal oversight

THE STATE auditor who blew the whistle on the corruption scandal in the Armed Forces of the Philippines is the next UN undersecretary general for internal oversight services.

No less than UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appointed Heidi Mendoza, the acting chief of the Commission on Audit (COA), for the post which has a five-year nonrenewable term.

“United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, following consultations with Chairs of the Regional Groups, informed the General Assembly of his intention to appoint Heidi Mendoza of the Philippines as the new undersecretary general for Internal Oversight Services,” the United Nations said in a statement.

Mendoza will replace Carman Lapointe who served as the undersecretary general for internal oversight services from 2010 to 2015.

The Office of Internal Oversight Services assists the UN secretary general in fulfilling his oversight responsibilities in respect of the resources and staff of the United Nations through internal audit, monitoring, inspection, evaluation and investigation services.

“As a certified public accountant, Ms Mendoza has over

20 years of service in government particularly in the field of audit, investigation, fraud examination, anticorruption and integrity advocacy,” the United Nations said.

In 2011, Mendoza testified before the House of Representatives Committee on Justice how the funds of the AFP were diverted to its retiring officials as “pabaon” (parting gift).

Mendoza had to quit her job at the Asian Development Bank so she could testify about the corruption in the military.

Mendoza was appointed by President Aquino as commissioner of COA in 2011, a move hailed by the civil society groups.

Since then, she had served as head of the audit committee on Public Sector Accounting Standards Board and external auditor for the Food and Agriculture Organization, World Health Organization and International Labor Organization.

Mendoza was named acting COA chief last February following the retirement of Grace Pulido-Tan.

In going after corruption, Mendoza had her share of enemies. She earned the ire of the camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay who had called her the attack dog of his rival former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.

Mendoza is a witness in several graft cases filed against Binay’s wife, Dr. Elenita Binay. In a Senate hearing on the allegations of corruption against the Vice President last year, Mendoza showed senators the highlights of a 2002 audit report that her team had prepared.

The audit report showed that Makati’s purchase of medical supplies and equipment in 2000 and 2001 were overpriced by P61 million.