Commission on Audit

Commission on Audit
*Komisyon sa Awdit*
Agency overview
Formed	May 8, 1899
Preceding agencies	Office of the Auditor of the Philippines Islands; Bureau of the Insular Auditor; Bureau of Audits; General Auditing Office;
Type	constitutional commission
Jurisdiction	national
Headquarters	National Building, Commission on Audit Compound, Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City
Annual budget	₱12.46 billion (2020)
Website	www.coa.gov.ph

The Commission on Audit (COA; Filipino: Komisyon sa Awdit^[2] or officially Komisyon ng Pagsusuri) is an independent constitutional commission established by the Constitution of the Philippines. It has the primary function to examine, audit and settle all accounts and expenditures of the funds and properties of the Philippine government.^[3]

The Commission on Audit is a creation of the 1973 constitution. It was preceded by the Office of the Auditor in 1899, renamed as the Bureau of the Insular Auditor in 1900, then to the Bureau of Audits in 1905. The 1935 constitution created the General Auditing Office (GAO), and was led by the Auditor General. The 1973 constitution renamed the GAO to the Commission on Audit, a collegial body led by a chairman, with two commissioners. That setup was retained by the 1987 constitution.

The other two Constitutional Commissions are the Commission on Elections and Civil Service Commission.

Members

Description

The Commission on Audit is composed of a chairperson and two Commissioners. They must be natural-born citizens of at least thirty-five years of age, and must be either a Certified Public Accountant or a lawyer. The members of the commission are appointed by the President of the Philippines, with the consent of the Commission of Appointments, for a term of seven years without reappointment.^[4]

In Funa v. Villar, the Supreme Court ruled that a Commissioner can only be appointed as chairman if the unexpired term for the office of chairman and the term that the Commissioner had already served does not exceed seven years. In such case, the Commissioner promoted as chairman would serve the unexpired term of the chairman, forfeiting the duration of his original term as Commissioner. This was based on a case where Reynaldo A. Villar, who was appointed commissioner in 2004, was then appointed as chairman in 2008, making him serve out eleven years in total. Villar resigned before he served out the full seven-year term as chairman, but prior to the resolution of the case.^[5]

The 1987 Constitution staggered the terms of the members of the Constitutional Commissions. Of the first appointees, the chairman would serve seven years (1st line), a Commissioner would serve five years (2nd line), and another Commissioner would serve three years (3rd line).

The members of the commission can only be removed from office via death, resignation or impeachment.

Current composition

Current composition
Position	Line	Name	Tenure started	Tenure scheduled to end	Appointed by
Chairman	1st	Gamaliel Cordoba	October 21, 2022	February 2, 2029	Bongbong Marcos
Commissioner	2nd	Mario G. Lipana	January 26, 2022	February 2, 2027	Rodrigo Duterte
Commissioner	3rd	Roland C. Pondoc	February 6, 2018	February 2, 2025	Rodrigo Duterte

Former auditors general

The General Auditing Office was headed by the Auditor-General. The Auditor-General has a 10-year term, is appointed by the president, is confirmed by the Commission on Appointments, and can only be removed via impeachment by Congress. This agency preceded the present-day commission.


Auditor General	Term	Appointed by
Jaime Hernandez	1935–1941	Manuel L. Quezon
Serafin Marabut	1940s	Manuel L. Quezon
Teofilo Sison	1940s	Jose P. Laurel
Manuel Agregado	1940s	Sergio Osmeña
Sotero Cabahug	1945–1946	Manuel Roxas
Manuel Agregado	1946–1957	Elpidio Quirino
Pedro Gimenez	1957–1965	Carlos P. Garcia
Ismael Mathay Sr.	January 23, 1965–September 19, 1975	Ferdinand Marcos

Membership history since 1987


Term started	Chairman (Line 1)	Commissioner (Line 2)	Commissioner (Line 3)	Appointed by
February 2, 1987	Teofisto Guingona Jr. March 10, 1986 – March 1987 Eufemio Domingo March 1987 – April 1993 Pascacio Banaria April 1993 – February 2, 1994	Bartolome Fernandez Jr. February 2, 1987 – February 2, 1992	Eufemio Domingo April 1986 – March 1987 Alberto Cruz March 1987 – February 2, 1990	Corazon Aquino February 25, 1986 – June 30, 1992
February 2, 1990			Rogelio Espiritu February 2, 1990 – February 2, 1997
February 2, 1992		Sofronio Ursal March 16, 1992 – February 2, 1999
February 2, 1994	Celso Gangan March 25, 1994 – February 2, 2001			Fidel V. Ramos June 30, 1992 – June 30, 1998
February 2, 1997			Raul Flores February 3, 1997 – February 2, 2004	Fidel V. Ramos June 30, 1992 – June 30, 1998
February 2, 1999		Emmanuel Dalman February 3, 1999 – February 2, 2006		Joseph Estrada June 30, 1998 – January 20, 2001
February 2, 2001	Guillermo Carague February 2. 2001 – February 2, 2008			Gloria Macapagal Arroyo January 20, 2001 – June 30, 2010
February 2, 2004			Reynaldo Villar February 7, 2004 – February 2, 2008 Evelyn San Buenaventura January 8, 2010 – February 2, 2011
February 2, 2006		Juanito Espino Jr. May 11, 2006 – February 2, 2013
February 2, 2008	Reynaldo Villar February 2, 2008 – April 5, 2011 Ma. Gracia Pulido-Tan April 5, 2011 – February 2, 2015
February 2, 2011			Heidi Mendoza April 18, 2011 – November 11, 2015 Isabel Dasalla-Agito January 16. 2016 – February 2, 2018	Benigno Aquino III June 30, 2010 – June 30, 2016
February 2, 2013		Rowena Guanzon March 18, 2013 – January 2014 Jose Fabia May 2, 2014 – February 2, 2020
February 2, 2015	Michael Aguinaldo March 24, 2015 – February 2, 2022
February 2, 2018			Roland Pondoc February 6, 2018 – present	Rodrigo Duterte June 30, 2016 – June 30, 2022
February 2, 2020		Mario Lipana January 26, 2022 – present
February 2, 2022	Rizalina Justol February 17 – June 1, 2022 Jose Calida July 4 – October 4, 2022 Gamaliel Cordoba October 21, 2022 – present
February 2, 2022				Bongbong Marcos June 30, 2022 – present
February 2, 2025			To be announced	Bongbong Marcos June 30, 2022 – present

Powers

In Jess Christoper S. Biong v. Commission on Audit, the Supreme Court ruled that the COA's audit power does not include the imposition of administrative penalties by its auditors upon culpable public officers.^[6]

References

^ Aika Rey (January 8, 2020). "Where will the money go?". Rappler. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
^ "Mga Pangalan ng Tanggapan ng Pamahalaan sa Filipino" (PDF). Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (in Filipino). 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 29, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
^ Section 2(1), Article IX-D, Constitution of the Philippines.
^ Section 1(1) & (2), Article IX-D, Constitution of the Philippines
^ Punay, Edu. "SC voids appointment of ex-COA chief Villar". Philstar.com. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
^ Laqui, Ian (September 19, 2024). "Supreme Court reins in COA: Auditors cannot impose penalties". The Philippine Star. Retrieved September 19, 2024.

External links

Media related to Commission on Audit of the Philippines at Wikimedia Commons
The Official Website of the Commission on Audit

[2020budget-1] Aika Rey (January 8, 2020). "Where will the money go?". Rappler. Retrieved May 29, 2020.

[2] "Mga Pangalan ng Tanggapan ng Pamahalaan sa Filipino" (PDF). Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (in Filipino). 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 29, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2018.

[3] Section 2(1), Article IX-D, Constitution of the Philippines.

[4] Section 1(1) & (2), Article IX-D, Constitution of the Philippines

[5] Punay, Edu. "SC voids appointment of ex-COA chief Villar". Philstar.com. Retrieved August 26, 2021.

[6] Laqui, Ian (September 19, 2024). "Supreme Court reins in COA: Auditors cannot impose penalties". The Philippine Star. Retrieved September 19, 2024.

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