Commission on Audit (COA) Director Adela L. Dondonilla will represent the Philippines as Chair of the 63^rd Session of the United Nations Committee for Programme and Coordination (CPC), the main subsidiary organ of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the General Assembly for planning, programming, and coordination in the United Nations.

Ambassador Antonio M. Lagdameo, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the United Nations in New York, announced that the Philippines was elected by acclamation as Chairperson of the United Nations CPC during the Committee’s Organizational Session held recently. “The Philippines’ chairmanship is a testament to the country’s ability in taking part in various leadership roles of the organization and its relatable bodies,” Ambassador Lagdameo said. According to the Philippine Mission, “it will also allow the country to oversee and steer the negotiations, which examine holistically the Secretary General’s work programme vis-à-vis its budgetary implications and corresponding mandate for effective implementation.”

Director Dondonilla will assume chairmanship during the Committee’s 63^rd session which will be held at the United Nation’s Headquarters in New York City from 30 May to 30 June 2023. She will be assisted by the officials and staff of the Philippine Mission.

A veteran member of COA’s elite pool of United Nations auditors, Director Dondonilla is currently the director of the Commission’s Cluster 1, Corporate Government Sector handling banking and credits.

The Commission on Audit (COA) moves towards digital transformation of its audit approaches, techniques and processes during the next seven years under the term of Chairperson Gamaliel A. Cordoba.

Around 140 senior COA officials led by Chairperson Cordoba and Commissioners Roland C. Pondoc and Mario G. Lipana formulated the Commission’s strategic directives at a planning conference conducted from 24- 27 April 2023.

To help government agencies improve their services and better perform their mandates, the Commission on Audit (COA) is robustly enhancing its performance audit capabilities. COA Commissioner Roland C. Pondoc recently shed light on COA's performance audit program in his article published in the PICPA Talks column of the Manila Bulletin.

Commissioner Pondoc said that COA coordinated with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Government Accountability Office (US GAO) Center for Audit Excellence (CAE) in 2015 for technical assistance in the development of performance audit policy and practices aligned with the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI). As a result, five pilot performance audits were conducted.

In 2017, COA created the Performance Audit Office (PAO) dedicated to the conduct of performance audit that is designed to examine the efficiency and effectiveness of a program, with the goal of implementing improvements.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Commission on Audit (COA) Provincial Satellite Auditing Office (PSAO) in Palo, Leyte was held on 27 March 2023. Commissioner Roland C. Pondoc, Director Amelia P. Valdez of the General Services Office, COA Region VIII Regional Director Felix M. Basallaje, Jr., Assistant Regional Director Arnel T. Jaranilla, Leyte Governor Carlos Jerico “Icot” L. Petilla and Palo Municipal Mayor Remedios “Matin” L. Petilla led the ceremony. COA Region VIII officials and personnel as well as representatives from the COA Central Office also attended the event.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Pondoc, Director Valdez, Regional Director Basallaje, Jr., Assistant Regional Director Jaranilla, Baybay City Mayor Jose Carlos L. Cari and Vice Mayor Ernesto C. Butawan led the ceremonial ribbon-cutting and unveiling of the plaque to mark the inauguration of the new PSAO building in Baybay, Leyte on 28 March 2023. The event was also attended by the Members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Baybay City, COA Region VIII officials and personnel, and representatives from the COA Central Office.

COA Commissioner Roland C. Pondoc, Director Amelia P. Valdez, Regional Director Felix M. Basallaje, Jr., Assistant Regional Director Arnel T. Jaranilla with Governor Carlos Jerico “Icot” L. Petilla and Mayor Remedios L. Petilla lead the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Provincial Satellite Auditing Office in Palo, Leyte.