COA Commissioner Roland Café Pondoc joins the officials and participants from the Supreme Audit Institutions of the Philippines, Nepal, Cambodia, Mongolia, Bangladesh and Papua New Guinea at the recently held regional workshop under the Asian Development Bank and International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) Development Initiative Project, “Strengthening of Performance Audit Capacity in Asia and the Pacific.”

The Commission on Audit (COA) participated in the week-long regional workshop on the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI) Implementation Needs Assessment for Performance Audit (IINA PA) held from 06 to 10 March 2023 at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Headquarters in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila.

Nine former officials of the Commission on Audit (COA) were honored by the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy (PRBOA) with the Accountancy Centenary Award of Excellence conferred on 17 March 2023 at the Manila Hotel to mark the culmination of the 100th year anniversary celebration of the Accountancy Profession in the Philippines.

The PRBOA conferred the Award on 100 notable Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) “whose unquestionable integrity, as exemplified by their outstanding contributions and unparalleled dedication in the advancement of the Accountancy profession and remarkable participation in national development have proven worthy of honor and emulation.”

The nine former COA officials named among the 100 notable Filipino CPAs are Chairpersons Pascasio S. Banaria, Celso D. Gangan, Guillermo N. Carague and Maria Gracia M. Pulido Tan; Commissioners Hermogenes P. Pobre and Heidi L. Mendoza; Assistant Commissioners Cecilio L. Dizon and Luzvi P. Chatto and Mr. Jose G. Torres.

The PRBOA also listed six COAns among the “Recognition Awardees” who are former members of the Board of Accountancy. They are former COA Commissioner Silvestre D. Sarmiento and Messrs. Guillermo A. Cruz, Jose A. Gangan, Rufo R. Mendoza, Juan S. Ong, and Alejandro Reyes.

Chairperson Pulido Tan is the first woman Chairperson of the COA. She brought to the Commission impeccable academic and professional credentials and a wealth of experience and multidisciplinary expertise in law and accounting, finance, management and governance acquired in her many decades of professional work as private law and accounting practitioner, government official and international consultant. As COA Chairperson, she introduced many reforms that evaluated the organizational structure, strengthened COA independence, upgraded capabilities and built capacities especially in the areas of forensic accounting and fraud audit and engage citizen participation. One of her flagship programs, the Citizen Participatory Audit program has won many awards, including the “Bright Spots” Award at the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Summit held in London in 2013 and first place for the Asia Pacific Region for the 2021 OGP Impact Awards. Chairperson Tan served as Chairman of the United Nations Independent Audit Advisory Committee.

The Commission on Audit (COA) joins the nation in the observance of the 2023 National Women's Month celebration (NWM) with the theme, "WE for gender equality and inclusive society." The month-long celebration, which honors women and their contributions to nation-building, is part of the worldwide commemoration of International Women's Day and National Women's Day on 8 March 2023.

The Philippine Commission on Women launched the new recurring theme from 2023 to 2028 to highlight the renewed commitment towards gender equality and an inclusive society. The theme “banks on the gains achieved during the 2016-2022 theme, WE Make CHANGE Work for Women, which emphasized the need for compassionate and harmonized networks towards gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE).”

COA Chairperson Gamaliel A. Cordoba said that COA is a women-empowered institution with women comprising 62% of the total workforce as of 31 December 2022. “The women of COA are indeed a formidable force, capable and provided with the opportunity to participate in leadership and decision-making,” he observed.

Commissioner Roland C. Pondoc noted that the Commission has performed well its responsibilities under the GEWE Plan 2019-2025. “We continuously implement various Gender and Development (GAD) programs, especially in strengthening audit of GAD funds and building capacity of auditors in that area as well as enhancing health and well-being of our personnel and improving work-life balance,” he said.

The Commission on Audit (COA) moves to modernize public auditing practice through shift from paper-based to digital-driven audits. In a recently published PICPA Talks column of the Manila Bulletin, COA Commissioner Roland C. Pondoc reported that COA is implementing an Audit Modernization Program by optimizing the use of science, technology, and innovation to enhance COA’s resilience in times of crises or emergencies such as the pandemic.

Commissioner Pondoc discussed the five major initiatives of COA's Audit Modernization Program:

1) Development of Audit Service Continuity Plan which contains continuity strategies and mechanisms in dealing with the adverse impacts of any disruptive events and aims to safeguard personnel by providing them with tools and skills to capacitate them;

2) Building capacity to perform remote audit through the use of the Electronic Document Portal which is a facility enabling state auditors to request for audit documents from the auditees remotely and the submission of documents in electronic form;