Did gov’t mishandle funds? COA will report if true, says Angara

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MANILA (UPDATE) — Education Secretary  Sonny Angara on Thursday said the Commission on Audit would confirm if government funds had been mishandled as alleged his predecessor, Vice President Sara Duterte.&quot;Well, makikita natin sa mga COA reports iyan. It’s the COA who really knows if there was mishandling. So pagharap namin sa Kongreso, usually ang mga tinatanong sa amin, sa House of Representatives, sa Senado, tinatanong iyong mga COA reports. Those are the reports that will indicate if there has been any mishandling or not,&quot; Angara said during the Palace briefing.Angara said he could not give a personal comment on the issue since Duterte did not mention specific details when she made the allegations.&quot;Mahirap nang magkomento baka hindi iyon ang pinag-uusapan ‘di ba. So basta ako, nakikita ko iyong efforts ni Presidente talaga dito sa education, and ang bilis nga niyang mag-decide dito sa Cabinet cluster at nandudoon talaga iyong urgency at very specific iyong kaniyang recommendations,&quot; Angara said.&quot;So sa tingin ko, on the part of the administration, wala namang pagkukulang especially when it comes to education. Although, ano nga, dapat mas mabilis iyong reporma, I think this is what the President is telling us&quot;,&quot; he added.In a recent interview, Vice President Duterte said that the mishandling of government funds was one of the reasons she resigned as DepEd Secretary.&quot;Kung basahan mo  lang iyong GAA [General Appropriations Act] at  i-trace mo kung saan pumupunta iyong pera, makikita mo hindi maayos iyong pag-handle ng pera, ng budget ng gobyerno,&quot; she said.&quot;Sinubukan kong itama iyong nakita kong mali, pero siyempre wala akong nakuhang suporta at wala akong nakitang pagbabago, kaya sabi ko hindi siya mauulit sa akin sa budget ng 2025. Hindi ko na kaya na ako pa rin ang hahawak ng Department of Education budget at uulitin lang ang ginawa dati,&quot; she added.<div>COA REPORTS</div>Meanwhile, the House Committee on Appropriations has required COA to submit their audit reports on the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of the Education (DepEd) with regard to their use of confidential funds for fiscal year 2022 to 2023.This follows a motion of ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro for the Committee on Appropriations to issue a subpoena duces tecum to the COA to submit any Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM) that were issued on the use of confidential funds by the OVP in 2022 and 2023 and the DepEd in 2023 when Duterte was also its secretary.AOM is defined by COA as “a written notification to the agency head and concerned officer/s informing of deficiencies noted in the audit of accounts, operations or transactions and requiring comments thereto.”Castro said she wanted to find out the COA’s audit observations on these funds and if any notices of disallowance were issued.Manila Rep. Joel Chua, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Kabayaan party list Rep. Raoul Manuel expressed support for Castro’s motion.“By virtue of the oversight power of the Committee on Appropriations, the motion to issue the subpoena duces tecum, requiring COA to submit the audit report of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of the Education and the use of the confidential funds for fiscal year 2022-2023. Hearing no objections, the motion is carried,&quot; said Rep. Stella Quimbo, vice chair of the panel.COA chair Gamaliel Cordoba said the agency will await the committee’s action on Castro’s request for subpoena.Cordoba earlier said the OVP and the DepEd have already submitted their audit reports and that the COA already has its audit action and findings but cannot divulge it publicly given the nature of the funds.The OVP, he added, also submitted its accomplishment report on the use of funds to the Office of the President, the House Speaker and Senate President and that copies of the accomplishment report may be furnished to the members.“Ang aming posisyon is we will wait for the subpoena and then we will study the matter based on the subpoena that will be issued by the honorable Committee on Appropriations,” Cordoba said. —With reports from Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News

Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Thursday said the Commission on Audit would confirm if government funds had been mishandled as alleged his predecessor, Vice President Sara Duterte.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Thursday said the Commission on Audit would confirm if government funds had been mishandled as alleged his predecessor, Vice President Sara Duterte.

Did gov’t mishandle funds? COA will report if true, says Angara | ABS-CBN

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Did gov’t mishandle funds? COA will report if true, says Angara

Did gov’t mishandle funds? COA will report if true, says Angara

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 13, 2024 05:12 PM PHT

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Updated Aug 13, 2024 05:57 PM PHT

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Sara Duterte

Sonny Angara

COA

Commission on Audit

DepEd

Department of Education

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