Ombudsman Samuel Martires has suggested that Congress remove provisions in the annual budget that require the publication of an audit observation memorandum (AOM), to prevent people from immediately jumping to conclusions that a specific official is corrupt.
At the hearing of the House committee on appropriations on Monday, Martires made this proposal when asked why it seems the number of cases filed by the Ombudsman has decreased.
Martires said that the publication of AOMs, which are preliminary findings of the Commission on Audit (COA) on government transactions, creates a negative perception of public officials and agencies even before they can explain or rectify the audit issues.
He said that some people use the AOMs as basis for filing complaints against officials without verifying the facts or understanding the context of the audit observations.
He cited an example of a local government unit (LGU) official in Bohol who was accused of corruption based on AOMs that were later dismissed by the Ombudsman.
“Our critics are abusing COA AOM to malign officials who are corrupt. Either they don’t understand the meaning of AOM or with deliberate intention to defame them. There are bad critics who gathered all AOM and then filed it with the Ombudsman. God’s mercy, they were all dismissed with lecture to the Ombudsman what and where is the AOM,” the LGU official said in a statement.
Martires said that he respects the mandate and function of COA, but he believes that there should be a better way of informing the public about audit findings without prejudging or damaging the reputation of public officials and agencies.
He said that he hopes that Congress will consider his suggestion and amend the budget provision on audit report publication. He also urged COA to coordinate with his office before releasing any audit reports to avoid confusion and duplication of efforts.