COA to review assignment history of auditors nationwide

MANILA, Philippines -  Commission on Audit (COA) chairman Reynaldo Villar will order a review of the assignment history of government auditors nationwide to determine if there are assessors staying beyond their three-year terms.

“I will have all of these looked into,” he told The STAR.

The plan to institute reforms in the commission came on the heels of reports that Philippine Navy resident auditor Divina Cabrera received bribe money during her 13-year stint in the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).

Villar said he will also implement rules that will allow the agency to immediately replace resident auditors accused of involvement in irregular transactions.

“If there is a complaint against a resident auditor, he will be replaced even if he has not yet finished his three-year term,” he said.

He is now considering the replacement of Cabrera by an auditor from either the local government or the corporate sector.

Cabrera was among those invited to a public hearing by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee on the alleged plea bargaining deal between government lawyers and former military comptroller Carlos Garcia.

Garcia was originally charged with plunder but was allowed to plead guilty to lesser offenses before the anti-graft court, which allowed him to be released on bail.