EP 65: Why the Commission on Audit matters

State auditors have come out with an annual report flagging the Department of Health over deficiencies worth P67.3 billion in COVID-19 funds. 

They didn’t say — at least, yet — that the money was stolen. 

But a tearful health Secretary Francisco Duque III slammed the Commission on Audit for allegedly “destroying” officials of his agency who, according to him, had lost sleep over it. 

Days before that, President Duterte had also gone after the COA saying it should stop releasing its audit findings. 

For the president, the COA was triggering “corruption by perception.”

In this episode, Christian Esguerra talks to Atty. Grace Pulido Tan, former Chairwoman of the Commission on Audit. 

She headed COA from 2011 to 2015 during which she led the scrutiny of how lawmakers had misused their pork barell allocations. 

The tedious and brave effort behind the COA special audit led to the filing of criminal cases against three senators.