Another kind of ‘CPA’

Ben Contreras

THE Commission on Audit has many certified public accountants. But another CPA, conceptualized by the then COA chair Grace Pulita Tan, is being promoted by this agency. It’s Citizen Participatory Audit.

COA formed itself into clusters. Each cluster addresses a particular government agency or department. With a force of only more than 2,000 men and women to tackle tens of thousands different government offices, COA certainly needs help. Thus, the “CPA”!

In the CSO-COA Exploratory Dialogue held at the Xavier Estates Sports and Country Club on Friday, the exchange of ideas and knowledge among civil society organizations and COA officials gave a lot of insights into the true functions of COA which the public may not really know and understand.

Among the purposes of the dialogue was to invite CSOs to become a part of the CPA. A brief overview on this particular subject explains what to expect from being a CPA and the responsibility the goes with it.

The gist of the dialogue was really about graft and corruption. There already exists enough teeth in this agency to combat graft and corruption but not enough soldiers. Maybe our lawmakers should address this by giving this agency more men and more funds to function effectively.

COA needs image building. Under a previous chairperson, COA became known as “Commission or Audit?” Pulido-Tan left a mark of respectability by her sincerity and no-nonsense implementation of her mandates. Even those who came from the national office are all praises for her.

The dialogue should have lasted till 5 pm but having other matters to attend to, I left earlier. They however promised to e-mail me the result of the dialogue on what would be agreed upon by the CSOs and COA.

One thing I learned was one that many misunderstood––that intelligence funds cannot be subjected to an audit. COA denied this. Intel funds are definitely subject to audit.

More about his when I receive my copy of the result of the dialogue.

• •

Former Taglimao barangay chairman William Guialani boasts of being the first to file his certificate of candidacy in the 1st District of the city. Why is he running, and why as an independent candidate?

“I do not want to be beholden to anybody except to the electorate. If I run under a party, I would be bound by party rules in which case, I would not be effective because my hands would be tied against corruption.”

Guialani has been reported time and again to have filed graft cases against known politicians in the city, including a plunder case against the sitting mayor.

Although he feels that his candidacy is “suntok sa buwan,” he believes God will be on his side in his desire to give back to the people the taxes they pay. “Taxes should not be pocketed by unscrupulous politicians who think of nothing but themselves,” he said.

Sort of a legacy, Guialani intends to donate a part of his property to establish a home for senior citizens who, he feels, have not been taken care of, through legislation. He also wants to put up an institution to take care of the mentally ill.

His wife Jocelyn, being a former teacher of Upper Carmen and West City Central School, knows the difficulties in the hinterlands. Thus, Guialani hopes to author an ordinance that would help them in their difficulties. As for vote-buying, he urges voters to take the money but vote according to their conscience. Hmmm, sounds familiar.