THIRD PARTY GOVERNMENT AUDITS

THIRD PARTY GOVERNMENT AUDITS

My dear friends, according to Microsoft Copilot, “the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is responsible for conducting government audits. The GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. Often referred to as the "congressional watchdog," the GAO investigates federal spending and performance to ensure accountability and efficiency in government operations”.

I believe that the GAO was created under the legal fiction that whoever appropriates the money, should audit the money. That is the reason why the GAO was created by the US Congress, and it remains within the legislative branch over there. For some reason, we did not copy that legal fiction here in the Philippines. That is perhaps the reason why over here, the Philippine Congress created the Commission on Audit (COA) as an independent commission that outside both the legislative and the executive branches. The COA is so independent and so powerful, that it could even audit the Philippine Congress itself.

I do not know about you, but in my opinion, I prefer the American legal fiction that the one who appropriates should be the one to audit. Of course, we are an independent country, and we do not have to copy everything that the Americans are doing, even if our system of government was patterned after theirs. Yes, we might have copied, but we copied differently. Although it has not done yet, the Philippine Congress also has the power to conduct hearings about anything that the COA is doing, and that could take the form of an audit.

Sad to say, there is there is still a lot of corruption happening in the Philippine government, despite the supposedly strict audits that the COA is doing. Is it because the corrupt officials are so good at stealing the money, such that they can go around the COA? Or is it because the COA is not so good at what they are doing, such that the corrupt officials are finding it too easy to go around them? Since the stealing has been going on for many decades despite the many years of auditing, is it not about time that we try other approaches?

How about allowing third party audits by private accounting firms in addition to the audits done by COA? Or how about creating an office inside the Philippine Congress that is like the GAO? If the Philippine Congress allows third party audits, we would have an additional means of detecting corrupt expenditures by way of comparing the two audit reports. And if the Philippine Congress conducts their own inhouse audits, it would become easier for them to conduct budget hearings.

In theory, our Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) should be able to operate freely as if they are private corporations, so that they could generate the profits that they should. As a possible innovation, they could be allowed to engage the services of private accounting firms. Instead of policing them to find out what is being stolen, we should just check their bottom lines to find out if they are meeting their revenue targets or not. For sure, they could not achieve their revenue targets if someone inside is stealing the money. Your friend, IKE SENERES/11-28-24/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PHILIPPINE INCLUSIVE SYSTEM FOR COLLEGE ENTRY OF STUDENTS

 PHILIPPINE INCLUSIVE SYSTEM FOR COLLEGE ENTRY OF STUDENTS My advocacy partner Mr. Roi Baluyot and I have created the Philippine Inclusive System for College Entry of Students (PISCES), for the purpose of making it easier for prospective students from the marginalized sectors to enter any of the State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) that are located all over the Philippines. Although tuition is free in these SUCs, many prospective students find it difficult to proceed, because of possible expenses that they could not afford, such as books, learning materials, snacks, board and lodging, specifically for dormitory fees if they are from out of town. This idea started when Mr. Baluyot informed me that there are some UP alumni groups in the United States who are concerned about the fact that the the majority of the students who are presently enrolled in the UP campuses right now are mostly coming from the upper classes. That reality defeats the purpose of UP becoming a "university of ...
Read more

PREPARING FOR USAID PROJECT WITHDRAWALS

PREPARING FOR USAID PROJECT WITHDRAWALS The recent foreign policy shifts under returning U.S. President Donald Trump have significantly impacted global development aid, including USAID’s programs in the Philippines. With the United States reassessing its foreign assistance policies, it is almost certain that USAID funding for the Philippines will be reduced . This could lead to the slowdown—or even the complete shutdown—of various projects that have been instrumental in supporting economic development, governance, health, education, and infrastructure in the country. A Call for Proactive Government Action The Philippine government cannot afford to wait until the last minute to respond. The potential withdrawal of USAID projects must be addressed now , not when funding officially stops. A well-planned transition strategy is necessary to prevent gaps in critical services and ensure that the country’s development momentum is not disrupted. Steps the Government Must Take Immediate...
Read more

TELEMEDICINE AT THE GRASSROOTS LEVEL

 TELEMEDICINE AT THE GRASSROOTS LEVEL Marinduque Governor Presby Velasco has a wonderful plan to make telemedicine available to all the 218 Barangay Health Units (BHUs) in his island province, and I am very happy to help him with the project as his Information and Communications Technology (ICT) consultant.  Although the technology for telemedicine is already available in the market, it appears that no province has yet implemented a province wide telemedicine project that could connect patients from the grassroots level to the doctors at the municipal halls and the provincial capitol. By doing that, Governor Velasco will be able to achieve the goal of providing universal access to healthcare to everyone in his province. Although the project might appear to be complex, it is actually designed with a simple plan that would make it easy to implement. The one part of the plan is to install internet connectivity in each of the BHUs, using satellite or fiber, depending on what is av...
Read more