The House appropriations panel has not adopted the request of Ombudsman Samuel Martires to remove the requirement to publish Commission on Audit reports, as it approved the proposed 2024 national budget.
“That [requirement to publish] stays. Everything stays the same,” said Marikina Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo, senior vice chair of the House appropriations committee.
“We adopted the NEP [National Expenditure Program] provisions as they are. If the Ombudsman is making that request, that will be subject to further debate in the plenary,” Quimbo added in a phone interview.
However, committee chair Rep. Elizaldy Co said the panel is still open to studying Martires’ suggestion “and will carefully evaluate the impact and implications of such action.”
“I understand the concern about preventing premature judgments and confusion among the public when reading audit reports. The impact of such publications on government officials’ reputations is an important consideration,” Co said in a statement.
The Ako Bicol party-list solon assured the Ombudsman that his proposal “will be discussed thoroughly within the committee, and we will engage in a comprehensive review to determine the best course of action, in line with our commitment to transparency and accountability in government.”
On Monday, Martires told the panel of his desire to remove the budget allocated for the publication of COA’s Audit Observation Memorandum (AOMs) from the 2024 national budget.
Martires on Wednesday clarified that he was referring to the annual audit reports (AARs) and not the AOMs.
Martires said his intention in limiting access to AARs was not to protect corrupt government officials.
He said the public should wait for the final audit report to be made public as appeals at the COA en banc and Court of Appeals are done.
“The Ombudsman assures that it is not protecting erring and corrupt government officials and employees, firmly believing that only the Final Audit Report should be published and shared with the public since the AAR could still be subject to appeal before the Commission on Audit En Banc and the Court,” he said.
The Makabayan Bloc at the House of Representatives, however, rejected the argument of the Ombudsman.
“The AARs are normally used by media, non-government organizations, and other corruption watchdogs to see if indeed government agencies and officials are using taxpayer’s money judiciously and are not enriching themselves,” House Deputy Minority leader and ACT party-list Rep. France Castro said.
“In fact, many anomalies in government were exposed due to the AARs like that of the Pharmally scam, the DepEd laptop overpricing, and even the P125 million unauthorized OVP confidential fund,” Castro said.
“These should be upheld and transparency is for the best of our people,” she added.
The Annual Audit Report (AAR) is the comprehensive audit published on the COA website every year. AOMs can be included in the AAR, along with explanations from government agencies.
If government agencies’ explanations are accepted by COA, they can recommend action points to correct these deficiencies.
But for graver issues, COA can issue various notices of disallowance, suspension, or charges, or can even file cases against officials, based on these reports.
The Department of Justice, for its part, said it will comply with whatever rules would be adopted on the release of the audit reports of COA.
“We will comply with the rules whichever way it is crafted,” DOJ Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic Clavano IV said in a text message.
He said the DOJ will leave it to legislators as to what actions to take on the proposal of Martires.
“It is for the proper appropriate authorities to decide – we will simply follow,” he added.