This is the best time for writers of this country to chronicle the great and unprecedented developments after one year, 10 months, and 12 days of his management and administration of the country’s natural and fiscal resources if President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has the potential to become the greatest head of state of the Republic of the Philippines.

Let us celebrate the milestones being enjoyed by the family this May. This coming Thursday, we shall celebrate a mother’s birthday, and on the 31st, the youngest daughter, a consistent dean’s lister at Olivarez College, will graduate with a degree in AB-Communications.

Congratulations to Governor Hermilando Mandanas, 80, who married 32-year-old lawyer Angelina Chua Wednesday last week.

President Marcos and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and other politicians and businessmen attended the wedding held at the Minor Basilica and Parish of the Immaculate Conception in Batangas.

“I came here not only of my own free will but full of love,” said Mandanas in his wedding vows. “We are both ready to raise as good Christians the children God will give us.”

Tearing up as she spoke, Chua thanked Mandanas for “having the courage to ask me to be your Valentine and for choosing to spend the rest of your life with me.”

Chua’s mother is Batangas City Executive Judge Maria Cecilia Chua. Her father is a doctor while her uncle, Artemio Chua, is a former mayor of Ilaan town.

Judge Chua is the magistrate behind the Mandanas ruling, which allowed local government units to have a larger share in national revenues.

Governor Mandanas, not Guillermo Carague, would have succeeded then Chairman Celso Gangan on 2 February 2001 as CoA chairman if his appointment prepared by the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Development Administration for the signature of President Joseph “Erap” Estrada was not overtaken by the EDSA 2 Revolution.

It is always rewarding to be able to take up subjects at the University of the Philippines graduate school under iconic professors. When I enrolled in the required subject on budgeting under Professor Jose D. Soberano there were more than 30 students on the first day of class. After about five meetings, only 20 were left. Midway through the semester, only 15 remained. At the end of the semester only seven finished.

That is what Professor Soberano was known for at the UP graduate school.

But what I learned from him enabled me to discern quickly deviations from constitutional and legal procedures that must be observed to preserve faithful compliance with the requirements that will protect fiscal resources from wastage and losses due to irregular and illegal disbursements of funds and the abusive usage of supplies, materials and equipment.

The classic example of how knowledge of constitutional requirements and legal procedures could help detect unconstitutional and illegal disposition of funds was the issuance by Florencio Abad of National Budget Circular No. 541 which violated the constitutional and legal requirements in the declaration of savings and the transfer of funds. Through this analysis, we were quick to point out the violations of the Constitution and the legal procedural requirements.

The teachings of Dr. Francisco Nemenzo helped in the discernment of damages brought about by deviations from fully established procedures in audit processes and how a dysfunctional Commission on Audit can destroy the country.

Altogether, illegal and unconstitutional budget procedures, deviations from the audit process, and a generally dysfunctional Commission on Audit led to the holocaust in national fiscal administration in the Philippines from 2011 to 2016. (To be continued)