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MANILA – Former Commission on Audit commissioner Heidi Mendoza said there was no premature disclosure in the agency’s report on the Department of Health’s alleged mismanagement of P67 billion in COVID-19 response funds.

“Hindi ho pwedeng sabihing premature. Mali ho yung sinabi na audit observations pa lang at wala pang exit conference,” she said in an ANC interview.

Mendoza explained that annual audit reports are only released after a lengthy process of coordination between the COA and the concerned government agency.

She said the COA can still take note of an agency’s response to its recommendations in the succeeding year’s report.

“Pagdating po ng year 2021…may section ng audit report, ang tinatawag po doon ay yung monitoring of prior year’s recommendation. Doon po papasok yun, para pong mag-a-update,” she explained.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier criticized COA for releasing its audit findings, even telling his Cabinet members to ignore the agency’s audit reports.

• Duterte tells Cabinet secretaries to ignore COA reports: 'Wala namang mangyari diyan'

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that by releasing its initial observations on the DOH, state auditors "unnecessarily" alarmed the public.

"Siguro ang gustong mangyari ni Presidente, ‘wag muna isapubliko ang preliminary observations na hindi pa naman nasasagot ng mga ahensya," he said in a Tuesday press briefing.

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Mendoza said she understands why Duterte reacted to the COA reports the way he did.

“Nakikita ko po ‘yun at siguro, the man that he is, the President that he is, gusto niya aksyon agad. Kaya siguro parang nasabi na 'Ay, walang kuwenta yun wag niyong pakinggan.' Although hindi ko po sinasabing maganda yun, or tama, naiintindihan ko po kung saan siya nanggaling.”

• 'Pure bullshit': Duterte says COA-flagged DOH funds not stolen

She also agrees with his statement that the deficiencies noted by the COA are not an indication of corruption.

“Bakit? Hindi pa po naisubmit yung mga papeles, sabi nga natin, sabi sa compliance audit finding, ah ganito, may deficiency, may pagkukulang.”

But she added that the agency’s financial and compliance audit report may guide the Office of the Ombudsman should it decide to go on a fact-finding mission.

“Nothing should preempt the Office of the Ombudsman to conduct their own, ang tinatawag po natin doon ay fact-finding,” she said.

Mendoza said audit reports indicate how well an agency is performing and how much the public can trust government agencies.

“Puwede na yung audit report, bagamat mahaba yung proseso, ay magdulot ng mga mabuting pangyayari like maayos na pamamahala ng transaksyon, hindi lamang po pera, kundi pagpapatakbo ng programa ng ahensya.”

“Pangalawa, basehan [ito] ng tiwala, kung nagagawa ba ng mga ahensyang ito ang kanilang nakatakdang tungkulin," she said.

She also said audit reports may lead to the eventual return to government of assets that may have been illegally acquired by some officials, as in the case of former military comptroller Carlos Garcia.

• $1.38-M in assets of ex-AFP comptroller returned to PH