COA needs 6,000 personnel

The Commission on Audit (COA) is in need of at least 6,000 employees to fill vacancies to effectively perform its mandate to audit the trillions of pesos being spent by government agencies.

"As of now, about over 5,000 po ang unfilled positions. I think close to 6,000 po," COA chairman Michael Aguinaldo told lawmakers during a briefing on the commission's proposed 2018 budget on Tuesday.

"To give you a bit of a background ... Back in year 2000 there were close to 11,000 filled positions. For some reason, over the next 10 years, hindi na sila masyado nag-hire so that by end of 2010 bumaba to a little under 8,000 na lang ang personnel ng commission," he said.

Due to the lack of personnel in some provinces, one auditor is auditing five to six cities or municipalities.

"So, either hindi nila matatapos 'yung trabaho or you can't expect the result that it's the best that should come out," Aguinaldo said.

To address the issue, the COA chair said the commission has been doing systematic hiring since last year.

However, even if the COA hired close to a thousand new people, he said that the COA has an "aging" workforce as the average age of its staff is 54 years old.

"So marami po ang nagreretiro. Last year, we were able to get close to 1,000 but 400 plus po ang nagretiro so ang neto lang natin is about a hundred and at the same time we lost the experience of senior people who retire," he said.

The COA chair said the commission also lacks personnel to do the necessary tasks apart from accounting and auditing.

"We lack other disciplines na importante rin in doing our job. Wala kaming masyadong economists, financial analysts, actuaries, statisticians," Aguinaldo said.

He said the commission is embarking on an "extensive hiring program" to address the issue next year. — VDS/JST, GMA News