The Commission on Audit (COA) hosted the 4th Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) and 2nd Senior Officials’ (SOM) Meetings of the Association of South East Asian Nations Supreme Audit Institutions (ASEANSAI) from August 26 to 31, 2013.

ASEANSAI Chairman Mr. Hadi Poernomo, Chairman of the Audit Board of Indonesia, underscored the significance of the Manila meetings since the participants finalized the draft Strategic Plan 2014-2017 which will be the ASEANSAI’s guide in carrying out its mandate for the next four years. The meetings also discussed important issues on rules and procedures that will affect the way ASEANSAI conducts its business.

Director Alexander B. Juliano of the Commission’s Fraud Audit Office (FAO) represented the Commission in the 3rd Meeting of the 10th Asian Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (ASOSAI) Research Project on the “Audit to Detect Fraud and Corruption: Evaluation of the Fight against Corruption and Money Laundering” held in Bangkok, Thailand from August 28-30, 2013. The topic for the research was the majority choice during the 45th ASOSAI General Assembly by member Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) considering that many Asian countries still rank low on corruption perception index. The ASOSAI hopes to raise greater awareness on fraud and corruption through-out the three-year in-depth research.

Commission on Audit (COA) Chairperson Maria Gracia M. Pulido Tan has been appointed to the United Nations (UN) Independent Audit Advisory Committee (IAAC). She is the first Filipino to serve in the IAAC since its creation in 2007. Deputy Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations Janne Taalas, Chair of the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly (GA) of the UN, announced the appointment during the Committee’s 24th Session on December 18, 2013. Chairperson Pulido Tan replaces Mr. Vinod Rai of India as the Asia-Pacific representative of the committee and will serve a three-year term of office beginning January 1, 2014.