Ejercito calls for COA probe into alleged auditor collusion

Senator JV Ejercito called on the Commission on Audit (COA) to conduct a thorough investigation into the alleged involvement of its resident auditors in the multi-billion-peso anomalous flood control projects nationwide.

Ejercito quizzed COA Chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba about whether the agency had already launched its own probe into resident auditors assigned to district offices flagged for irregularities, particularly in Bulacan and Mindoro.

“This is not only the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), but of course, they are the primary agency that really undertook or implemented these substandard or ghost projects, including proponents. There is also someone in the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and there is also someone in COA,” Ejercito said in Filipino.

“I hope that you would investigate, and it has also come from DPWH officials in the First District and Engineering Office, and the DBM and COA are involved in their collusion here," he added.

Ejercito also stressed that while no formal charges have been filed yet, auditors who failed to act on red flags should still be held accountable.

The COA official assured the senator that the agency’s Fraud Audit Office is already investigating the matter and that initial findings would be submitted to the committee once the internal process is completed.

Ejercito likewise raised concerns about reports implicating COA Commissioner Mario Lipanan allegedly receiving large sums of money.

Lipana has been twice implicated in the flood control kickback scheme in Bulacan. Once by former DPWH district engineer Henry Alcantara and a second time by former undersecretary Robert Bernardo.

During the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on 25 Sept., it was confirmed that Lipana was already outside the country.