As Biñan City Mayor Arman Dimaguila himself has acknowledged, the Commission on Audit (COA) is one of the “strictest” government agencies when it comes to scrutinizing government transactions.
Which is why it’s no small victory for the city government of Biñan, Laguna to receive an “unmodified” opinion from the COA in its 2021 audit report, the highest rating the commission can give.
According to the COA,
an “unmodified” opinion is given when auditors conclude that the financial statements of an agency or a local government unit as a whole are free from “material misstatements.”
“Alam naman ng lahat na napakahigpit ng COA, kaya ang mabigyan kami ng ‘unmodified opinion’ para sa aming good financial governance ay indikasyon lamang ng ating matino at mahusay na pamamahala sa kaban ng bayan,” Dimaguila said in a statement to OpinYon Laguna.
Cooperation
So how did the Biñan City LGU get the COA’s highest opinion in its handling of its financial transactions?
It all boils down to cooperation between the local government agencies in handling this very sensitive aspect of local governance, according to several officials interviewed by OpinYon Laguna.
“The Office of the City Accountant, with the support and help of the offices of the City Budget Officer, City Treasurer, and General Service Office, ensures that all financial transactions are in accordance with the approved annual appropriation and supported by pertinent and necessary documents as provided for by the relevant auditing and accounting rules issued by the Commission on Audit,” Noel Velasco, head of the City Accountant Office, told OpinYon Laguna.
The good thing about the COA, city officials added, is that the commission is transparent about what things to rectify in their financial statements.
“Ang maganda sa COA is nagpapadala sila sa atin ng mga audit observation, so kapag may na-observe sila na non-compliance ay ipapadala nila sa mga concerned offices. At kapag na-justify mo naman na na-comply mo yung mga audit observations, diyan lumalabas ang ‘unmodified’ opinion ng COA,” Octavio Almenanza, Jr, head of the City Budget Office, said.
Cooperation among involved offices is vital, especially as the COA opinion on the city’s financial statements also reflects the LGU’s performance as a whole, City Treasurer Edgardo Tayag added.
“Nakita sa COA opinion na ito na na-address na ng local government ang mga deficiency na nakita nila sa huling audit report nila sa atin," Tayag told OpinYon Laguna. "That's the reason kung bakit sila nakapagbigay ng magandang opinion sa atin noong 2021."
Plus points for LGU
Dimaguila added that the COA audit is also a “plus point” in its goals to achieve the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for the much-coveted Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) Award.
“Ang pagtupad sa mga hinihingi ng COA ay malaking puntos din upang makamit ang Seal of Good Governance Award na iginagawad sa mga lokal na pamahalaan na nagpapakita ng matino at mahusay na pamamahala,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to Atty. Roderick Laurito of the City General Services Office (GSO), the LGU also hopes the COA’s opinion will help remove doubts among the public about the city’s fiscal management.
“For example, hindi naman kasi porke sinabi ng COA na ‘unreliable’ ang funds para sa isang government agency e nawawala na yung pondo, gaya ng iniisip ng iba,” he stressed. “Ibig sabihin noon ay hindi pa maayos ang recording, kaya agad naming nalalaman kung ano ang kailangang ayusin sa records namin.”