IF the national government were keen on pursuing its good-governance stance, it must grant a fixed and guaranteed budget for the Commission on Audit (COA) that would be automatically appropriated to ensure the agency’s independence in auditing public finances.

COA Chairman Grace Pulido-Tan said this practice was already being done by other governments, notably in Maldives, a small island-country in South Asia.

“It’s a very tiny country but their audit office has the kind of [budget] cover [that] they do not need to ask for; it’s really specified. If [the audit office of] a small country like that is given protection, how much more for [a country like ours]?” Tan said.

Tan said while the COA has not experienced receiving “blatant” messages that threaten the approval of its budget in Congress, there are several “insidious ways” to get these messages across.

She said while this was the prerogative of the country’s lawmakers, given that they had the power of the purse, this was still not the ideal way by which the finances of auditing agencies should be evaluated and allocated.

Tan said only a fixed budget that is automatically appropriated would ensure that audit office finances are independent. She said there are several ways to do this, such as indexing a budget to inflation so that it stays the same for several years but is still sufficient to meet the COA’s needs.

“There are insidious ways of getting the message across. But I know that’s their prerogative. Congress really has the power of the purse but sometimes, the way they evaluate the budget, their focus is not [related] to the topic, it becomes personal,” Tan said.

Last week, in his speech at the Third Integrity Summit, European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines  President Michael Raeuber said the country’s anti-corruption efforts have been successful in making the Philippines an attractive place to do business.

But the Philippines can easily lose this unique position if its anti-corruption efforts do not come through. This, Raeuber said, is why the Integrity Initiative is such an important part not only in attracting investors to do business in the country but also in keeping them interested.

Raeuber said anti-corruption efforts are essential, especially for countries struggling to sustain economic growth. The Philippines is aiming to sustain its stellar economic performance in recent quarters in an effort to reduce poverty nationwide.

Source: Business Mirror (www.businessmirror.com.ph); News; 24 September 2013