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.