COA can prove if 2024 budget was mishandled as VP claimed, says Angara

Education Secretary Sonny Angara speaks during the Brigada Iskwela Kick-off at the Mataas na Paaralang Neptali A. Gonzales (MPNAG) in Mandaluyong CIty, in this file photo taken on July 23, 2024. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — Former senator now Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Tuesday said the Commission on Audit’s (COA) reports could prove if there is any truth to Vice President Sara Duterte’s claim that the 2024 budget was mishandled.

Angara made the pronouncement during a Palace briefer, after he refused to directly comment on Duterte’s claims that the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA), since the Vice President did not go into specifics.

“Well, hindi ko na—wala kasing specific siya so hindi ko sure ano iyong ibig niyang sabihin,” said Angara.

(Well, I don’t—she was not as specific so I’m not sure what she means,)

However, Angara noted that COA’s annual audit reports would show if there truly was a mishandling of the 2024 budget.

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“Well, makikita natin sa mga COA reports iyan. It’s the COA who really knows if there was mishandling,” said Angara.

(Well, we can see that in the COA reports. It’s the COA who really knows if there was mishandling.)

“So pagharap namin sa Kongreso, usually ang mga tinatanong sa amin, sa House of Representatives, sa Senado, tinatanong iyong mga COA reports. Those are the reports that will indicate if there has been any mishandling or not,” he added.

(So when we appear in Congress, usually, in the House of Representatives, in the Senate, we are asked about those COA reports. Those are the reports that will indicate if there has been any mishandling or not.)

It was in a televised interview on Thursday when Duterte cited the 2024 GAA as one of the reasons she resigned from her post as education secretary.

She claimed the budget was mishandled and that she tried to correct it herself, but did not gain the support of other government agencies.

However, Duterte did not exactly elaborate on what she meant when the GAA for 2024 was mishandled, nor the efforts she claimed to have made.

Duterte resigned as DepEd chief on July 19, and was then replaced by Angara.

READ: OVP’s proposed 2025 budget is over P2B – DBM

Since then, the Vice President began openly assailing the Marcos administration.