Abalos urges COA to extend document retention beyond 10 years

As the proposed budget for the Commission on Audit (COA) during the budget deliberation at the House of Representatives rose to PHP 15.24 billion on Wednesday, 1 October 2025, 4Ps party-list Representative JC Abalos asked if the agency is considering amending its rules to extend the preservation of documents related to crimes involving public funds.

According to COA sponsor and lone district of Davao del Sur Congressman John Tracy Cagas, under current COA rules, documents not subject to any inquiry or investigation are disposed of after 10 years.

“If those documents are subject to inquiry or litigation, even regardless of the ten-year period it will still be at the hands of COA. But if those documents are not subject to any inquiry or litigation then those documents will be disposed of after ten years,” Cagas explained.

Abalos cited prescriptive periods for cases such as graft and corruption, direct bribery, and malversation, which can range from 15 to 20 years. He noted that there is a significant gap between COA’s retention rules and the prescriptive periods for such crimes.

“As we could see, there is a clear and legal practical gap between the retention and prescriptive periods. Is COA considering amending its rules or recommending legislation to harmonize the document retention period with the longest applicable prescriptive periods for crimes involving public funds?” Abalos asked.

Abalos emphasized the need to amend the rule to reconcile it with prescriptive periods under special penal laws. He cited the flood control project as an example, noting that investigations could date back to 2012 or even earlier.

“I believe it is time for us to amend the law, it is only proper that we reconcile our auditing rules and our storage system in line with the prescriptive periods enumerated in our special penal laws,” Abalos said.

Through Cagas, COA stated it is willing to commit to extending the preservation of documents beyond the 10-year period but emphasized that it would require additional costs to the agency.

“COA is amenable to extend the preservation of those documents even beyond that 10-year period, with the proposed amendment. However, this would entail additional cost or expense to the part of COA,” Cagas said.

Abalos countered that the cost is minimal compared to the benefit of ensuring accountability in cases involving public funds.

“That cost is very small compared to the benefits that our countrymen will feel, given how pressing the issues that plague our nation,” Abalos said in Tagalog.