Lalong “kinamuhian” ang paglilinaw ni Ombudsman Samuel Martires na ang ibig daw niyang sabihin sa budget briefing ay ang Commission on Audit (COA) ay hindi dapat ilathala ang Annual Audit Report (AAR) nito dahil ito’y hindi pa pinal at maaari pang iapela.
Sabi nga ni House Deputy Minority leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro mas masahol pa ito kaysa inisyal na pahayag ni Martires na hindi dapat isapubliko ng COA ang Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM).
Karaniwan na ginagamit ng media, non-government organizations, at iba pang corruption watchdogs ang AARs upang mabatid kung ginagamit ng tama ng mga ahensya ng pamahalaan at mga opisyal ang pera ng bayan at hindi para sa pagpapayaman sa sarili, sabi ni Castro.
Sa katunayan, aniya, maraming anomalya sa pamahalaan ang nabisto dahil sa AARs ng COA gaya ng Pharmally scam, ang DepEd laptop overpricing, at maging ang “P125 million unauthorized OVP confidential fund.”
Alinsunod sa 1987:
“Article IX-D, Section 4. The Commission [on Audit] shall submit to the President and the Congress, within the time fixed by law, an annual report covering the financial condition and operation of the Government, its subdivisions, agencies, and instrumentalities, including government-owned or controlled corporations, and non-governmental entities subject to its audit, and recommend measures necessary to improve their effectiveness and efficiency. It shall submit such other reports as may be required by law.
Article III, Section 7. The right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall be recognized. Access to official records, and to documents and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to government research data used as basis for policy development, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to such limitations as may be provided by law.
Article XI, Section 1. Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must, at all times, be accountable to the people x x x
Kung hihimayin ang pahayag ni Martires, lumalabas na mistula siyang “kasabwat” ng mga tiwali sa gobyerno.
Baka naman nalimutan niya na ang “COA is an independent constitutional commission established by the Constitution of the Philippines. It has the primary function to examine, audit and settle all accounts and expenditures of the funds and properties of the Philippine government.”
Sakaling hadlangan niya ang COA na gampanan ang kanilang mandato, baka si Martires ay masipa sa puwesto sa pamamagitan ng impeachment.
