Thread by @marortoll

Here goes the Chief Political Analyst again. There is nothing against the COA as an independent institution and its mandate to keep government adherence to sound accounting policies. But when it is used as a tool for politicking, that line is crossed.
manilatimes.net/2021/08/21/opi…

Anyone who has worked in both the public and private sector understand that audits constitute part of the check-and-balance system. This is true for publicly-listed corporations where the public invest. This more important in government which is fully-funded by the public.

However, there has to be a certain element of pragmatism in the output of the COA, the government bureaucracy in general and the departments and agencies it audits, in particular. We are well-aware of how government bureaucracy is behind in digitization. The truth is there is no

excuse for it in this day and age. The reasons why are obvious. Digitization is a deterrent of corruption. Less human intervention means the system cannot be gamed as much in favor of the corrupt civil servant and officials. But to resort to publicly flagging is simply

politicking. It violates the audit process because the results aren't final until the department or agency has responded to the deficiencies. That is the process. It is no different from a private corporation or a publicly-listed corporation. This is why there are both internal

and external auditors. In effect, the COA is both, in the government bureaucracy. I've gone over the curriculum vitae of COA Chair Michael Aguinaldo and while he is not a CPA, he is certainly qualified. But the lingering question is, why didn't he make it a priority to recommend

digitization in order to ensure data integrity and compliance with generally accepted government accounting principles. I have seen how government accounting departments work and they're not the epitome of efficiency and productivity. Neither are the employees qualified. Some are

not even accounting majors. Before we flag and flog, we should actually look at the root of the problem and provide a solution. The Chief Political Analyst always finds it convenient to flog the Duterte administration because of his personal frustration. This only goes to show

how his academic training has failed him. He doesn't employ the scientific method in his analysis. It's always his emotions leading me to believe that he is nothing but pusong-mamon trapped in a man's body.