Is Henares going to COA?

MANILA, Philippines - Will Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares replace Commission on Audit (COA) Chairman Ma. Gracia Pulido-Tan?

Sources said Henares has told President Aquino she would prefer to be transferred to COA when Tan’s term of office ends on Feb. 2, 2015.

The President asked Henares the agency she prefers to handle once she leaves the BIR, sources said.

“Reports that Commissioner Henares will be replacing the chairman have circulated at the COA. It’s been a buzz for some time because Chairman Tan will be retiring on Feb. 2 next year,” the source told The STAR.

Appointed in 2011, Tan is serving the remaining four years of the seven-year term of her predecessor Reynaldo Villar.

‘Somebody from within’

Sources said COA insiders are hoping that “somebody from within” will take the helm of the agency.

“The commissioners surely want some people who have been working from within the agency to become COA chairman. We hope that loyalty to the agency can also be taken into account,” the sources said.

Another source said Henares’ possible move to COA has raised eyebrows even among administration allies.

“She has been issuing various memos even while at the BIR, which are not even under the law. What more power can she yield if appointed to a constitutional body where she has a fixed term of office,” an official, who refused to be identified, said.

Asked if the President can appoint Commissioner Heidi Mendoza as Tan’s replacement, sources referred to a Supreme Court ruling on the case of Villar.             

The ruling stated that the President has no power to appoint a chairman for less than a seven-year term in place of a predecessor whose full term has expired. – With Delon Porcalla