World body supports CoA capacity buildup

The International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) is supporting the Philippines’ Commission on Audit (CoA) in developing its capacity to maximize the value and benefit it brings to Philippine society by promoting the development of its professional capacities and capabilities with an ambition “to leave no one behind.”

The supreme audit institution or CoA of the Philippines has been undergoing, since January this year, and has completed the repeat-assessment of its methodologies and practices against international standards using the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) Performance Measurement Framework (PMF).

Under the assessment process, CoA submitted its Performance Report to the INTOSAI Development Initiative (IDI). CoA consequently earned an Independent Review Statement from an independent reviewer identified by the IDI.

The INTOSAI PMF and Independent Review Statement are considered by the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Harmonization of National Government Performance Monitoring, Information and Reporting System as being equivalent to the ISO 9001-aligned Quality Management System.

An ISO audit is a systematic, independent examination of an organization’s processes, systems, and practices to determine compliance with specific International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards. 

The goal is to ensure that the organization meets the requirements of a chosen standard, such as ISO 9001 or ISO 27001 for information security. Auditing involves reviewing documentation, evaluating processes, and verifying with staff to confirm adherence to standards and identify areas for improvement.

ISO-27001 is an international standard for an Information Security Management System (ISMS) which is a systematic way for organizations to manage secretive information and protect its confidentiality, integrity, and availability. It provides a framework for organizations of any size or sector to identify and manage an information security risks-based approach that governs people, processes and technology.

The CoA SAI PMF Team was composed of seasoned CoA officials who are experts in their respective fields, with the technical and administrative support of its secretariat.

The IDI Independent Reviewer attested that the assessment team leader and members were considered to have the appropriate skills and experience to produce a high-quality assessment, and that the objectives of the review were satisfactorily met in the final report. The Independent Review Statement is published in the Transparency Seal of the CoA website. 

On another matter, people are saying the Bureau of Customs (BoC) collection report is self-serving.

That the BoC collection report is self-serving because it lacks third-party validation is a common criticism that highlights a need for greater transparency and accountability, as it relies solely on data provided by the bureau itself. 

Critics argue that without independent verification from an entity like the CoA, which is responsible for auditing government accounts, the figures presented may not be entirely accurate and could be influenced by internal bias.

The BoC’s collection reports are based on data compiled by its own personnel, making the reports inherently internal to the bureau.

When these reports are not subjected to an independent third-party audit by an agency like CoA, there is no external validation of figures.

This lack of validation can lead to criticism that the reports might be self-serving, as there is no independent check to ensure the accuracy of the collected amounts.