COA lauds speedy confirmation of new commissioner

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Audit (COA) yesterday hailed the speedy confirmation of its newly appointed commissioner.

Commissioner Jose Fabia, who was appointed to the COA on May 2, was confirmed in record time by the Commission on Appointments (CA) without any opposition or objection from the committee members.

The CA committee on constitutional commissions and offices recommended Fabia’s confirmation in the morning of June 11. He was confirmed in the plenary session on the same day.

“He has a track record of being an entrepreneurial government executive with a legal mind and an innovative spirit,” Sen. Teofisto Guingona III said in his speech in the plenary.

Guingona said Fabia embodies a leader who takes initiative in planning and implementing innovative programs in governance.

“With his varied track record, he is an asset and a worthy addition to the COA,” Guingona said, noting Fabia’s stint in government exposed him to public accountability and transparency, particularly  in the disbursement of public funds.

The senator said Fabia is proficient in accounting and auditing of government funds.

Fabia, whose term of office will expire in February 2020, brings to COA 31 years of experience in law, management, governance, business, communications, migration and healthcare.

Notable among his credentials, the COA said, were the innovative programs he introduced in every government position he has held.

As assistant secretary of the Department of Health’s legal affairs office from 1987 to 1991, Fabia helped craft the Generics Law and the Milk Code, and introduced amendments to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

During the rising clamor for safe, effective and affordable drugs, Fabia helped shepherd the Generics Law and its implementing rules and regulations.

When the demand for clean and honest government became too hard to ignore, he reviewed DOH’s internal audit reports and filed administrative cases against erring government officials.

As municipal mayor of Binmaley, Pangasinan from 1995 to 1998, he planned and implemented the Nutrition, Food, Environment and Medicare Program for indigents, which won the Galing Pook Award as one of the best local government programs in the country.

Fabia is a pioneer in providing health insurance to the poor, and as founding president and chief executive officer of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), he developed the actuarial and organizational framework for the implementation of a universal health insurance program in the country.

When he left PhilHealth in 1998, Filipinos from 28 poorest provinces and four cities in the country, along with overseas workers and their families, were covered by health insurance.

Private and government Medicare programs were placed under PhilHealth. He laid the foundation for one of the most successful and profitable government corporations in the country today.

As director general of the Philippine Information Agency from 2010 to 2012, Fabia initiated the anti-drug courier program, which won an Anvil Award in 2011. The operations of the illegal drug traffickers were disabled through public information and education. Drug trafficking cases dropped by 82 percent in 2011.

He introduced Text Blast and created the Facebook page Weather Watch, which expanded the information dissemination campaign of the government especially on disaster preparedness.  The use of text messaging to warn people who are at risk during calamities is now being institutionalized through a bill in Congress. The bill mandates telecommunication companies to send these messages for free.

Fabia completed a Master’s degree in Entrepreneurship from the Asian Institute of Management, earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the Philippines, and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Santo Tomas. He passed the Bar in 1982.