A Facebook page claims Vice President Sara Duterte “has clean and honest government,” attributing the statement to the Commission on Audit and citing its 2023 unmodified opinion for the Office of the Vice President. This is not true.
On April 20, the page, which has been posting pro-Duterte content, quoted COA’s unqualified opinion, highlighting the statement, “In our opinion, the accompanying financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of OVP as of December 31, 2023.”
The post was captioned:
“VP Sara has clean and honest government according to COA [three green hearts]
#Duterte”
An unmodified or unqualified opinion is issued “when the auditor concludes that the financial statements are prepared, in all material respects, in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework.”
There are no records of such a remark allegedly from COA referring to the OVP, based on a quick cursory search of the entire claim. Nowhere in the commission’s unmodified opinion did it describe Duterte’s governance as “clean and honest.”
While the 2023 audit opinion featured in the FB post exists, the commission previously said an unqualified opinion does not vouch that an agency is corruption-free.
“This does not also entail that the audited agency fully complies with all the laws, rules and regulations, or that the uses of funds on the agency’s programs, projects and activities are economical, effective or efficient,” COA said in a separate document published on its website.
The post with the untrue claim emerged six days after COA affirmed its notice of disallowance (ND) on the OVP’s P73.28 million confidential expenditures for 2022 and denied Duterte’s appeal for reconsideration.
As defined by COA, disallowance is “the disapproval in audit of a transaction, either in whole or in part.” The state auditors issue an ND for government transactions that are “irregular/unnecessary/excessive and extravagant…and those which are illegal and unconscionable.”
Hours after the incorrect FB post surfaced, local media organizations reported a new COA disallowance covering P375 million in confidential funds of the OVP in 2023 due to improper handling of cash advances, failure to prove the success of confidential operations and unsupported procurement expenses, among others.
COA had asked Duterte, who is facing impeachment proceedings due in part to her alleged misuse of public funds, and other key officials in the OVP to return P448 million in disallowed confidential expenditures.
The false FB post, published by page DU30 Forever (created on Sept. 25, 2025 as DU30 Legacy), garnered 6,700 reactions; 564 comments and 1,000 shares as of writing.
