ROW
MANILA,
OCTOBER 8,
2011 (TIMES) [PHOTO- Budget Secretary Florencio
Abad]
THE Aquino administration has launched an internal audit manual for the
bureaucracy in a bid to promote transparency and accountability in public
service.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad on Friday said that the Philippine Government
Internal Audit Manual details the prescribed procedures, standards, techniques
and best practices for government internal auditors.
"The issuance of the manual will improve the roll-out and implementation of
internal control and internal audit systems in government institutions," Abad
added.
President Benigno Aquino 3rd "wants to rebuild the people's trust in
government and to transform it to one that is accountable to performance and
ethical standards. Internal audit plays a crucial role in reform, especially in
recommending courses of action to ensure effective, efficient, ethical and
economical operations of agencies," the Budget secretary said.
Abad pointed out that the manual complements the National Guidelines on
Internal Control Systems issued by the Budget department in 2008.
Meanwhile, the department and the Commission on Audit will conduct seminars
on capacity-building for internal auditors.
FROM PHILSTAR
Palace, SC settle dispute over judiciary budget By
Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) Updated October 08, 2011 12:00 AM Comments
(0)
MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang maintained yesterday that it has forged a
win-win solution to calls made by the judiciary to respect its fiscal autonomy
in connection with the Palace-impounded P101.5-billion Miscellaneous Personnel
Benefits Fund (MPBF).
Details of such agreement, however, have been left for Sen. Franklin Drilon,
Senate finance committee chairman, and his counterpart in the House, Rep. Joseph
Emilio Abaya, to explain.
The solution was arrived at upon consultation with Budget Secretary Florencio
Abad, said presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda.
"Pardon me for not releasing the details, but there's been an agreement
already on fiscal autonomy and we appreciate the efforts of the House finance
committee, that they recognized our efforts on transparency and accountability,"
he told reporters.
Lacierda believes the agreement "will not be in conflict with the fiscal
autonomy provisions of the Constitution."
"We will leave the details of the agreement with either Cong. Abaya or Sen.
Drilon. By the way, the House version of the budget contains those agreements
and we will leave that with Cong. Abaya to explain," he said.
What Lacierda only hinted at was that the compromise was consistent with the
position taken by Drilon, where funds intended for unfilled positions in the
judiciary and independent constitutional bodies must be respected.
"Essentially, we will respect the funds. But there are some provisions that
were included so that there is a happy agreement between both branches of
government and also the judiciary," he said.
Last Thursday, Drilon conceded that constitutional bodies such as the
judiciary enjoy fiscal autonomy and as such should have full control over all of
its funds, even those intended for its unfilled positions.
In a forum at the Senate, Drilon echoed the sentiments of the leadership of
the House of Representatives about giving back to the judiciary control over P2
billion for unfilled positions under the proposed P1.8-trillion national budget
for 2012.
"We will adhere to the constitutional provision which grants fiscal autonomy
to the constitutional bodies and at the same time provide for transparency in
the budget. So that we will know through a reporting system how the budget
allocated to each agency is being spent," Drilon said.
"We will not impinge on the fiscal independence of the constitutional
agencies but we maintain that as guardians of the purse, we have the right to
require that such usage of the funds be made transparent," he added.
During the initial hearings on the proposed 2012 national budget, Drilon
supported the move of the executive branch to pool all of the funds of the
various government agencies meant for unfilled positions into a new item called
the MPBF.
The MPBF would be under the control of the Department of Budget and
Management and so the various agencies would have to go through them to secure
funding for hiring personnel.
According to the DBM, the MPBF was instituted in response to the abuses
committed in the past by various agencies, including the Armed Forces of the
Philippines.
During the investigation conducted by the Senate on the alleged corruption in
the AFP, it was revealed that funds intended for unfilled positions were used
for other purposes, including providing millions in sendoff money for retiring
chiefs of staff.
Restrictions sought
Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman proposed yesterday that
Congress impose restrictions on the use of funds appropriated in the 2012 budget
for unfilled positions in the bureaucracy.
He said the same limitations being proposed to be imposed on the judiciary
should be followed by Malacañang in the use of such funds.
Otherwise, he said the unused portions of appropriations for salaries might
be treated as savings and diverted to other expenses, for which they were not
intended. – With Marvin Sy, Jess Diaz
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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rights reserved
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