I’m sure I wrote about this before. In all the meetings during the times I had worked with government agencies, I would say we would talk 70% about the project, and 30% about the Commission on Audit (COA). Everyday, in every meeting, in every conversation that involved purchasing something, we would talk about budget, compliance, paperwork to support that compliance, adherence to regulation, submission of documents to prove this adherence with copies for every party, and always it would involve us saying things like ‘what would COA think’, and yes, believe it or not, you will hear the phrase ‘pera ng taong bayan’.
You can probably see where I’m going with this.
Jill also works for the government, and she obviously shares my concern. They have a budget, they have people who talk, near maniacally, about that budget day in and day out, and as such are counting everything. Every transport expense. Every consumable expense. Every line item spent on food, on supplies, on every chair and every table and every nail that goes into each chair and table if it comes to that, is absolutely important and worth documenting.
Those in private companies, other than those in companies just as bureaucratic as the government, will be shocked at the level of hypercritical attention to detail. Funnily enough my contract was tied to the purchase of IT products and services and the hiring of 3rd parties and other consultants, without which we couldn’t function. But the level of nitpicking and pedantry (I know that word doesn’t exist I just made it up, ok?), would extend for months so my contract would be extended far beyond expectation as we wait for paperwork to push through on purchasing even basic things.
There was always enough money, there was no question about that. Not only was there lots of money, there was always a daily pressure to SPEND that money, because 1.) that money was going to go away if we didn’t spend it within the allocated period, and 2.) the results my client needed from these projects were becoming more immediate by the day.
Despite the urgency however, adherence to COA rules and regulations was above all.
If there was even a chance COA will flag anyone or any project for any possible issue, I would go so far as to think some felt we were better off NOT going ahead with projects. I know that sounds dramatic and no, it never happened, but it just goes to show the shadow of COA looms over each and every decision people make in government to such a level that everyone is ultra super careful with everything they buy.
Then of course, I watch the court proceedings on TV lately, and I can’t help but think: Thank GOD for COA. Not only do they set realistic guidelines on how confidential funds are supposed to be spent, they kept tabs on everything and – here’s the kicker – they were even patient and tolerant, giving the OVP and DEPED every opportunity multiple times to address the missing, unsupported and undocumented funds. And each time OVP and DEPED failed to meet their standards – standards that were clear as day to everyone, and which all other government departments are able to comply with.
I feel this is all completely lost on the public.
I feel that when the DDS hear there was an Accomplishment Report, they would say ‘oh may AR naman pala e!’, not knowing that those ARs were created by the OVP and DEPED itself to support its own disbursements.
It’s akin to a student asking his parents for 5000 pesos to buy textbooks, then not producing these textbooks but instead writing and signing a paper he made himself that confirms he spent them properly. It’s useless scrap, but that doesn’t matter to apologists.
I think the prosecution is doing a great job laying this all out to the public. I don’t mince words when I say I am absolutely shocked that any public office would even dare try to get fake ARs and unsupported documentation get past COA. But that’s just me, and others who have worked with government, because we know firsthand how COA is such a looming, imminent and yes, threatening presence in the daily lives of all government offices.
But does the public know that?
This is the part where the press has to do its part.
The press has to hammer home how not only how illegal it was, but also how insolent and cocky it was to even try.
As staff were printing those very documents, they KNEW, ALAM NILA (OVP and DEPED staff) na hindi sila makakalusot. Alam naman nila di tatalab ang fake ARs. fake names and lack of ORs.
Just like in the example I made, the student who writes and approves his own confirmation of purchases knows its not going to work. His parents will still want to see the actual books he said he would buy, just like COA would like to see the official receipts, or pictures or written, spoken, audio or video evidence of the results of those ‘investigations’ they said they were spending those funds for.
How in the world can a typical disbursement officer of ANY government agency sleep at night knowing they signed off on ghost purchases? Some of these OVP and DEPED staff had been working there for years if not decades. The idea that they would just shrug their shoulders thinking no one is going to check on them later on is unbelievable.
That just means they had been assured it would be all ok. That they had been told, don’t worry about it, ‘we’ got you. Walang hulihan dito ako bahala.
The press has to 1.) bring home the sheer impudence of submitting fake documents signed by fake names and thinking that they would get away with it, and 2.) bring to people’s minds the possibility that the reason these staff were so brazen was that they were told they were going to get away with it, by people who most likely really thought they were going to get away with it – hence the urgency to NOT let them get away with it.