Land Bank of the Philippines Assistant Vice President Reynaldo C. Copa explains the features of the new Check Image Clearing System at a presentation before COA officials and auditors on April 7, 2016.

Officials of the Commission on Audit (COA) and representatives from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) discussed the various features and issues relating to the new Check Image Clearing System (CICS) to provide faster movement of funds and reduce or eliminate fraud at a presentation held at the COA CP Boardroom on April 7, 2016.

In the new CICS, a deposited check will be scanned and its electronic payment information and image will be transmitted throughout the entire clearing cycle. The original physical check will be removed from the clearing process. The new system is part of the Philippine Clearing House Corp. (PCHC)’s automated clearing system that integrates the CICS with the Electronic Fund Transfer Network.

LBP Assistant Vice President Reynaldo C. Copa, in his presentation, said the system will address geographical limitation by eliminating movement of physical paper, streamline the process and create a faster & more secured payment exchange environment.

 “This new system will reduce the number of days for a check to be cleared. For instance, if a check deposited within cut-off time or 3 pm today, funds will be made available for withdrawal by 3 pm the next day. There will also be controls put in place to protect the integrity of the scanned checks,” Mr. Copa said.

The six minimum mandatory check security features are: security fibers (visible & invisible), embedded watermark of the PCHC logo, microprint of bank initials along the signatory line, microprint of the security printer’s name along the date line, “Copy” pantograph, and erasable ultraviolet (UV) ink/UV security features. To protect the payee, a drawer’s conformity statement will be included. The new checks will be launched by July 2016.

COA officials, for their part, expressed concern regarding the legality of the scanned checks as evidence, other requirements of investigating bodies and additional security features of the new check clearing system. COA officials said the rules of evidence should catch up with this new development in the banking system.

The LBP representatives also asked COA to revisit COA Circular No. 2012-005 on Prescribing the use of Punong Barangay Certification (PBC) and COA Auditor’s Advice (CAA) which provides, among others, the preparation of the CAA to a Government Servicing Bank holding further payment of checks issued by a barangay that has not submitted a copy of the PBC and other required documents. LBP and COA officials discussed various ways by which barangays can avoid being penalized a hefty amount for stop payments but must still be able to comply with the required documents.

Other LBP officials who attended the presentation were Vice President Ma. Eloisa C. Dayrit (Head, Banking Services Group), Vice President Ana S. Concha (Head, System Implementation Dept.), Mr. Raymond Santos of the System Implementation Dept. and COA-LBP branch manager Lourdes E. Flor. #

Participants at the inception and planning workshop for the Asian Development Bank Project on Enhancing Roles of Supreme Audit Institutions in Selected ASEAN Countries, March 2, 2016.

The Commission on Audit (COA) through the Project Management Office and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) conducted an inception and planning workshop to incorporate the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs) and improve quality of financial audit reports. The workshop was held at the COA Professional Development Center from March 2 to 4, 2016..

The workshop was part of the Regional-Capacity Development Technical Assistance (R-CDTA) conducted by the ADB under the Project on Enhancing Roles of Supreme Audit Institutions in Selected ASEAN Countries financed by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction. The State Audit Office of Vietnam, the Office of the Auditor General of the Union of Myanmar, and the State Audit Organization of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic also participated in this project.

COA Chairperson Michael G. Aguinaldo emphasized that “[T]he Commission on Audit is devoted to continuous training which is second nature to us. This workshop will help us take a deeper look at international standards and see how we can apply them in our own practice.”

 “Our development partners also asked us to do some audit work for their projects in the country. It is important that COA is on the same page with implementing agencies and that auditors and management understand where the ADB and our other development partners are coming from. Hopefully, we will be able to meet the requirements of our development partners,” he added.

The workshop aimed to guide implementing agencies in further improving the quality of project financial statements and deepening the understanding of the interlink between financial reporting and auditing.

The R-CDTA will yield three main outputs: (1) the assessment of COA existing guidelines; (2) a piloted and updated COA guidelines on ISSAIs financial audit; and (3) the dissemination of the COA guidelines on ISSAI financial audits to other ASEAN members.

The ADB acknowledged COA’s role as Project Leader for ISSAI Implementation under the Knowledge Sharing Committee, and the Chairperson of the Training Committee, both of the ASEANSAI.

Participants were given an overview on targets and progress of the R-CDTA, ADB investments in the Philippines and External Audit of ADB projects, among others. Participants were also asked for their input on COA’s roles in financial audit as well as discussed COA’s readiness to fully implement ISSAI. At the third day of the workshop, the group held focus group discussions to tackle issues including COA’s Action Plan in improving financial audit guidelines to be aligned with ISSAI. #

Chairperson Michael G. Aguinaldo, Commissioner Jose A. Fabia and Assistant Commissioner Luz Loreto-Tolentino lead the groundbreaking ceremony for the Professional Development Center Extension Building

Commission on Audit (COA) Chairperson Michael G. Aguinaldo led the groundbreaking ceremony for the Professional Development Center (PDC) Extension Building on February 11, 2016. The PDC Extension Building will have six more classrooms dedicated to holding trainings and seminars.

In his message, Chairperson Aguinaldo said one of the many things he is proud of in COA is the institution’s dedication to continuous training. “The annex building is part of COA’s continuing commitment to provide more training and education for its personnel,” he said.

Commissioner Jose A. Fabia, for his part, said the PDC requires not only good courseware and good trainers but also the facilities to effectively train COA personnel. “Training is very important because it is a vital component for the COA to be able to perform its functions well. The construction of the annex building is a testament to COA’s aspiration for quality audit,” he observed.

Assistant Commissioner Luz Loreto-Tolentino of COA’s Professional and Institutional Development Sector thanked the COA leadership for their support. “The ritual we are about to do is but symbolic but from the depths of this earth that we are marking in a while, a new vision for learning, development and service to our people shall stand,” she remarked.

Chairperson Aguinaldo and Commissioner Fabia unveil the COA Region IV-B marker.

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Assistant Commissioners Divinia M. Alagon, Lourdes M. Castillo, Arcadio B. Cuenco, Jr., Alexander B. Juliano, Carmela S. Perez, and Manolo C. Sy and COA Directors.

Meanwhile, COA held the blessing of the renovated offices of COA Region IV-B on February 4, 2016.

Rev. Fr. Mario Bije led the celebration of the Holy Mass and presided over the blessing of the renovated offices. Chairperson Aguinaldo and Commissioner Fabia joined Assistant Commissioner Alagon, and Directors Sheila U. Villa of COA Region IV-B and Janet D. Nacion of COA Region IV-A in unveiling the COA Region IV-B marker. #