COA project promoting government accountability wins int'l award

A project of the Commission on Audit won the Bright Spot award at the two-day Open Government Partnership (OGP) summit in London last Nov. 1.

In a press release, British Ambassador Asif Ahmad congratulated the country for winning the award with the Citizen Participatory Audit (CPA).

“The CPA initiative from the Philippines is an inspiration to others who want to make a real change and turn ambitious ideas into positive action to improve governance,” said Ahmad.

The audit project was announced on Oct. 18 as one of seven initiatives from around the globe shortlisted for the award.

The award recognizes inspiring examples of how open and accountable governments can change the lives of its citizens. A total of 5,384 cumulative votes online secured the award for the project.

CPA was created to engage ordinary citizens in ensuring increased transparency in government transactions, promote social accountability, and improve the response of government bodies to audit-related feedback.

Vivienne Suerte-Cortez of the CPA, during the seven-minute presentation of the project (starting at 18:00 in this video), said that COA's joint efforts with civil society organizations made the project efficient in ensuring accountable transactions made by government units.

“Together, we actually learned that reforms happen when two naturally-opposing parties would come together and work together to form concrete solutions. That was our bright spot,” said Suerte-Cortez.

“We believe that the CPA project can strengthen institutions and can help government transform lives... We can all do this one audit at a time,” she added.

The CPA is currently engaged in four pilot projects, according to Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. in an interview on the state-run dzRB radio station.

“Ito po ay ang mga sumusunod: Ang CAMANAVA Flood Control project ng DPWH; ang Department of Education public-private partnership for school building phase one; ang Quezon City solid waste management program; at ang operasyon ng mga barangay health centers sa lungsod ng Marikina City," said Coloma.

The OGP was created for governments to create concrete projects which "promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance".

The Philippines is one of the eight founding governments which launched the OGP on September 20, 2011. — Rie Takumi/BM, GMA News