Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, on Thursday ordered all police offices and units to immediately comply with observations of state auditors to ensure proper use of government funds.
“I am directing all the Police Regional Offices, the National Administrative Support Units, the National Operational Support Units and the National Headquarters to further improve their coordination with their respective resident auditors and immediately act on their observations to prevent unnecessary situations when the PNP, or any of its unit, becomes the subject of the COA (Commission on Audit) Annual Audit Reports which are eventually misconstrued as tantamount to misuse of funds, or worse, corruption,” Eleazar said in a statement.
This came as Eleazar retracted his suggestion in a media forum on Wednesday that the COA should stop releasing its audit reports to the media and instead release its observations directly to concerned government agencies.
“During a consultation which I initiated last night with concerned officials of the PNP, the entire process on how disbursements works and up to the level of COA intervention were discussed. And it was made clear to me that the COA does not issue press statements and instead, posts its audit reports on its website as part of its Constitutional mandate for transparency,” he added.
Eleazar also said the state audit body has been actually doing what he has suggested by sending its observations to the PNP offices concerned and giving them enough time to review and correct its observations before a report is published on its website.
“The PNP has been taking all the COA observations seriously and has instituted various measures to further improve its budget spending based on whatever the recommendations would suggest over the years,” he added.
Eleazar also assured the public that government funds provided to the PNP are spent wisely as part of its continuous commitment to genuine reforms anchored on transparency, accountability, and professionalism.
Source: Philippines News Agency
