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Martires seeks non-publication of

COA’s initial audit memo
By: Gabriel Pabico Lalu - Reporter / @GabrielLaluINQ INQUIRER.net / 06:00 PM September 11, 2023

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MANILA, Philippines — Ombudsman Samuel Martires has suggested that

Congress remove provisions in the annual budget that require the
publication of an audit observation memorandum (AOM), to prevent people
from immediately jumping to conclusions that a specific official is corrupt.

At the hearing of the House committee on appropriations on Monday,

Martires made this proposal when asked why it seems the number of cases
filed by the Ombudsman has decreased.

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Martires then explained that they have to verify several cases, checking
with the Commission on Audit (COA) if the observations resulted in
disallowance or not.

“What happens is that our investigation stalls because they ask for an
extension when we require them to provide copies of documents. Even
cases from the blue ribbon committee of both Houses, we verify that, and
the agencies again ask for more time to provide us with documents,” he said
in a mix of English and Filipino.

“Sometimes there are times when the COA is not yet finished with their
investigation
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auditing process, not just the audit of the auditor but the en banc
commission until they decide on the matter. It’s okay if we cannot see
 y y
anything,” he added.
Sep 13, 2023

In the process,
NEWS Martires
GLOBAL said he has BUSINESS
NATION observed that there are several
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instances
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METRO receipts and are
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called out by COA — but are eventually painted in bad light due to reports
in the media.

“I want to suggest to Congress if we can remove from the special provisions

or general provisions of the GAA (General Appropriations Act) lines
referring to the publishing of [AOM]. This AOM causes confusion for people
because when they read that in the AOM that a P10 million project faced a
hiccup, they will say that a government official earned P10 million from
that. But the truth is they just forgot to submit receipts,” Martires said.

“So I leave this to Congress to remove this because after filing a case with
the Ombudsman, the case is being dismissed because the COA audit is
resolved, They will say that the Ombudsman took a bribe. I hope it’s true
that the Ombudsman got paid, but it isn’t; the problem is it’s creating an
innuendo that the Ombudsman earned,” he added.

This is not the first time, however, that Martires said that they would prefer
to wait for final COA reports before taking action.

In 2021, after the Department of Health (DOH) and Procurement Services –

Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) officials were accused of
wrongdoing when the government purchased face masks and face shields
from Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. at allegedly higher rates, Martires
said he waits for the full COA audit report before filing cases.

READ: Ombudsman holds off until COA audit of DOH fully done

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Martires reasoned that the audit reports give agencies the flexibility to
address observations and fully implement recommendations, noting that it
is necessary to avoid losses for the government.

Eventually, Martires filed graft complaints against PS-DBM officials and

Pharmally executives for their involvement in the issue.

Martires’ views also echo that of former president Rodrigo Duterte, who
said that investigations should only take place after COA’s audit reports are
final.

READ: Duterte to only take action vs gov’t agencies if COA reports

already final

Abolish PS-DBM, revise procurement laws

At the latter part of the deliberations on the Office of the Ombudsman’s
P5.05 billion proposed 2024 budget, Martires also suggested that the PS-DBM
be abolished as it is the source of corruption allegations, like in the case of
the Pharmally issue and the purchase of overpriced and slow laptops.
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overpriced laptops
 Sep 13,Congress
“I think 2023 should take a serious look into abolishing also PS-DBM
which has in the past year became the source of graft and corruption, as
NEWS GLOBAL NATION BUSINESS LIFESTYLE ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGY SPO
what happened in the Pharmally case,” Martires said.
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“Why do we have to buy a ballpen at the cost of P1.50 when I can buy it in
the store for only P1.00? Why do we have to pay PS-DBM a certain
percentage to buy me a ballpen? Why not put that responsibility on the
government procuring entity? Why PS-DBM? So now everyone wants to
buy their goods through PS-DBM. We can do that, we don’t need PS-DBM
anymore,” he added.

He also believes the country should revert to old procurement laws,

claiming that Republic Act No. 3019 or the Government Procurement
Reform Act have placed bonds that drive product prices higher.

“I think it is about time that Congress should take a serious look into
repealing the present procurement law which we copied from the
government of Canada. Let us go back to our old procurement law where it
was so simple, not much requirement,” he said.
While Martires did not explicitly state what specific version of the
Philippines’ procurement law should be adopted instead, the Ombudsman
said the recent law forces the government to make silly decisions.

“If you buy a car now whose cost is about P1 million, you purchase it at
P1.2, P1.3 million because of the many requirements imposed under the
new procurement law. Not only that, is the procuring a car in Metro Manila
if you are in Metro Manila, you’d look at the lowest bidder, and you
sometimes find the lowest bidder in Nueva Ecija, or in the Bicol Region,”
Martires said.

“So how do you maintain the car, you’d go to Bicol, you’d go to Daet just to
have your car maintained? This is silly,” he added.
JPV

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