Anti-Graft Commission taps SGV audit firm in corruption drive

The Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) has tapped the private auditing firm Sycip Gorres Velayo and Co. to strengthen the internal audit units of government agencies.

In a statement, PAGC said the contract was signed with SGV as part of the $300,000 project funded by the World Bank, through a grant from its Institutional Development Fund, to fight corruption in the Philippines.

The move will help the IAU of government agencies in performing their functions in conformity with international standards in the practice of internal auditing.

With the establishment of adequate and effective internal controls, particularly in the procurement process, opportunities for corruption will be reduced, PAGC said.

The project will cover national government agencies, one constitutional body and three local government units. These are the Office of the President, the departments of public works, health, education, defense, interior, agriculture, budget and social welfare; the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police and National Power Corp.; Office of the Ombudsman; Marikina City, Bulacan province and Cainta, Rizal.

World Bank’s acting country director Chris Hoban expressed hopes these agencies would become "islands of good governance, using effective internal auditing to ensure better delivery of services to the people."

"And we hope they will provide examples from which others will take notice and more will be inspired to learn from their experience," Hoban said.

Aside from these kinds of project, the government has also been coming out with advertisements in the media to say it is winning the war against corruption.

In the ad prepared by the Philippine Information Agency, it claimed that in 2005 fewer companies were asked for bribes to facilitate transactions and that 33 percent of cases decided in the Sandiganbayan were won by the Ombudsman.

"Only 16 percent was won in 2001. This reflects gains in the war against corruption," it read. — With Aurea Calica