Officials of the Commission on Audit assessed the Strategic Plan 2012-2014 and outlined activities to sustain the programs under the four pillars at a command conference held at the SAADO Auditorium from January 27 to 30, 2014.

Chairperson Maria Gracia M. Pulido Tan updated the officials on the programs that are already in place under the four pillars (Integrity and Independence, Organizational Efficiency, Professionalism and Technical Competence, and Strategic Partnerships and Linkages) and outlined the activities needed to institutionalize the reforms for sustainability.

“We have made significant strides in terms of heightening our credibility and trustworthiness. Though we are still part of the government, we must stand our ground and guard our independence. We must also integrate all the resources and harness them to make our work more effective,” Chairperson Pulido Tan said.  

Among the programs for integrity are the adoption of new COA core values as a way of instilling integrity in COA, and the creation of the Internal Affairs Office and establishment of a legal assistance fund to develop an efficient mechanism in handling and resolving complaints against COA personnel. On-going activities are the revision of the Code of Ethical Conduct and Employee Manual and automation of the Citizen’s Desk to be integrated as audit support, among others.

To strengthen the organizational capability of COA, the Commission underwent a reorganization creating needed new offices and additional clusters. The COA is moving to institutionalize Citizen Participatory Audit, finalize guidelines in the adoption of a Unified/Integrated Audit Approach and undertake recruitment campaigns in the universities and colleges.

Other on-going programs are intensified training in specialized areas such as environment/fraud/disaster audits and implementation of a Quality Assurance Policy to improve professionalism and technical competence; and upgrading of the website and strengthening mutual assistance and exchange of information between COA and other government agencies.

The new performance appraisal system was likewise introduced at the command conference while representatives from CD Asia, COA’s partner in upgrading its website, also conducted a presentation on the different features of the new website.