Pope Francis promotes the role of sports in fostering friendship and peace among all nations of the world. The Holy Father believes that sports can unite and encourage dialogue.

On the other hand, love of God and the enjoyment of sports constitute the solid armor for auditors against extortion, blackmail and envy.

CoA auditors, like their parents, are sports enthusiasts.

Commission on Audit (CoA) auditors are sports lovers. All audit service centers throughout the country are equipped with sports facilities. That is why there is no single dry day in the life of the auditors of the world.

The stringent entrance examination for applicants who want to join CoA includes the discernment of attitude and aptitude, ability and capacity to withstand pressure, and discovering special skills, tendencies to appreciate art and culture, preferences and experience.

When I joined CoA on 24 August 1961, I went through the process and it was worth it. For 40 years, three months and three days I lived a life of devoted public service and gained honor and recognition, while serving as resident auditor of 15 premier state offices, all connected to the seat of power of the Philippine government.

I retired on 28 November 2001 without a blot on my service record.

My exit from CoA was as stringent as my entrance. I secured all the required clearances from CoA, NBI and the Office of the Ombudsman.

If an idiot looks into my service record at this blissful stage of my retirement and a life that keeps me young with my happiest family, even the shadow of that idiot will abandon him.

Strict entrance, stringent exit, and my clean and outstanding government service ensured an enviable life of accomplishment and fulfillment. All my children are professionals and employed, and their children too.

Thank God, I’m still alive to witness the spectacle of Carlos Yulo obtaining the perfect score to capture the coveted two gold medals in gymnastics with amazingly faultless and miraculously safe tumblings and landings — for the New Philippines of President “Bongbong” Marcos — in the historic Paris Olympics of 2024.

Pope Francis promotes the role of sports in fostering friendship and peace among all nations of the world. He said the Olympic Games, by their nature, are about peace, not war.

He said the Paris Olympics was an opportunity for all those who come from around the world to discuss and appreciate each other, to break down prejudices, to foster esteem where there is contempt and mistrust, and friendship where there is hatred.

“Sports is a universal language that transcends frontiers, language, races, nationalities and religions; it has the capacity to unite people, to encourage dialogue and mutual acceptance. It stimulates the suppressing of oneself, forms the spirit of sacrifice, fosters loyalty and interpersonal relations, it unites people.

“Look at the Olympic Games as an opportunity to uphold the spirit of ‘truce’ amidst the global disharmony we are living through,” the Holy Father said.

“In these troubled times, when world peace is under serious threat, it is my fervent wish that everyone will take this truce to heart, in the hope of resolving conflicts and restoring harmony. May God have mercy on us! May He enlighten the consciences of those in power to the grave responsibility incumbent upon them; may He grant peacemakers success in their endeavors, and may He bless them!”

The Holy Father, prior to the Paris Games, told the local Christian communities to open the doors of their churches, schools and homes to support and offer hospitality to athletes and visitors alike.

“Let them open the doors of their hearts, bearing witness to the Christ who dwells within them and who communicates his joy to them, through the gratuitousness and generosity of their hospitality to all,” said Pope Francis.