Senatorial candidate and former government auditor Heidi Mendoza slammed the continued spread of disinformation clearly intended to question the integrity of the Commission on Audit (COA) and persuade the public not to believe its findings.
In particular, she expressed disbelief at how critical findings of her former office on issues such as confidential funds and notices of disallowance are distorted to mislead the public.
“Hanggang sa ngayon nga, nung nakikita [ko] ‘yung extent ng disinformation, I couldn’t believe [it]… Pati yung audit report, may twist, ‘di ba?” Mendoza, who served as COA head for 27 years, said in an interview with VERA Files.
(Even now, seeing the extent of disinformation, I couldn’t believe it. Even the audit report is being twisted, right?)
Mendoza was specifically referring to the misuse of confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education after the submission of documents with fictitious names resembling those of celebrities, historical figures, and even grocery items that raised suspicions on the authenticity of transactions for which they were used.
While the use of aliases is accepted as part of the confidentiality aspect of activities, Mendoza said in a December 2024 interview on ANC Digital channel’s Dateline News that guidelines still require a journal or logbook be kept where the real identities of these persons are recorded and can be referred to by COA.
VERA Files recently debunked an item claiming that the ‘unmodified opinion’ issued by COA to the OVP in 2023 cleared the office of irregularities. Upon checking, however, the document only declared that the financial report submitted was sufficient in form.
Unfortunately, COA is unable to directly address such falsehood because of the agency’s sensitivity to public perception since its primary objective is to safeguard the integrity of audit reports against misleading claims, Mendoza explained.
The whistleblower on the financial irregularities in the Armed Forces of the Philippines in 2011 emphasized the importance of allowing audit reports to stand on their own. She said, however, that having served as undersecretary general of the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services, it is incumbent upon her to address any disinformation about the agency’s work.
“Mahalaga na dati akong taga-COA. Madalas akong magpaliwanag, so mahalaga na magsalita ako [sa mga isyung ito],” she stressed.
(It is important that I worked in COA… and I am often asked to explain, it is important that I speak on this issue).
