Commission on Audit’s (COA) Gerald M. Mendeja and Jenero C. de Guzman won third place in the final round of the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) App Challenge held on 19 August 2023 in Seattle, Washington, United States of America (USA).

The team’s entry, “EMERGE” app, revolves around empowering Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to excel in the global marketplace. It addresses the challenges highlighted in the 2020 APEC Report by providing a comprehensive platform with three main features: an Export Readiness Assessment Tool, a personalized Assessment Report, and a Public Global Directory. The app assists MSMEs in evaluating their readiness for international trade, offering actionable advice for improvement, and showcasing their businesses and products to a global audience, thereby promoting economic opportunities for underrepresented groups.

Messrs. Mendeja and De Guzman, both from the COA Information Technology Office, ventured into the APEC App Challenge on their own initiative, entering an esteemed international coding competition that unites software developers and designers from across the APEC region. Their team was among the five finalists, alongside the USA, People's Republic of China, Malaysia, and Thailand. A total of 35 teams participated in the competition. The finalist teams were invited to attend the APEC App Challenge at Digital Month during APEC's Third Senior Officials Meeting in Seattle, Washington from 17-22 August 2023 to demonstrate and present their newly completed apps to a panel of judges and an audience including APEC policymakers and stakeholders up to the ministerial level, entrepreneurs, and development actors from around the region.

The Commission on Audit (COA) recognizes the importance of developing a highly competent audit workforce to carry out the Commission's audit mandate efficiently and effectively. In an article published on 04 September 2023 by the Manila Bulletin entitled “COAs Competency-Driven Learning and Development for Auditors” under its PICPA Talks column, COA Commissioner Roland Café Pondoc highlighted the Commission’s strategic direction to develop and implement a Competency-Based Human Resource System (CBHRS).

“As a knowledge institution itself, COA needs to be agile and prepared to take on risks that impinge upon the management of its workforce performance. It thus became vital that learning and development strategies, structures and processes are attuned to the level of dynamism of the environment within which COA operates,” Commissioner Pondoc observed in his article.

"COA's CBHRS, in its complete form, offers a more straightforward solution to COA in harnessing the potential of its biggest asset to achieve the greatest value, it provides the basic competency frame for learning and development," Commissioner Pondoc added.

The Commission on Audit (COA) released the CY 2022 Report on the Salaries and Allowances (ROSA) received by Principal Officers and Members of Governing Boards of Government Corporations (GCs) and their Subsidiaries and by the Secretaries, Undersecretaries and Assistant Secretaries and other officials of equivalent rank of the National Government Agencies (NGAs) in accordance with the government’s continuing thrust to promote transparency and accountability in its transactions and operations.

COA, through its Corporate Government Audit Sector, compiles the ROSA submitted and certified by the accountants of the GCs and NGAs and verified by their respective COA Auditors, to effectively monitor emoluments paid to the high-ranking government officials holding multiple positions in various government agencies in compliance with COA Memorandum No. 92-780, dated 21 September 1992, as amended by COA Memoranda Nos. 2010-012, 2012-005 and 2016- 011 dated 6 April 2010, 20 April 2012 and 4 April 2016, respectively. The ROSA is submitted to the Office of the President and Congress.

The ROSA also summarizes the total amount of emoluments and benefits received by these officials from all the different government agencies/ instrumentalities where they served and/or are affiliated. All the compensation data summarized are presented at gross of tax.