COA’s budget will decrease by P845M in 2023 - Quimbo

The Commission on Audit's proposed budget for 2023 is P845 million less than it was for this year, House appropriations panel senior vice chairperson Stella Quimbo said on Friday.

Quimbo, the budget sponsor for COA, made the disclosure upon questioning by Kabataan party-list Representative Raoul Manuel during the plenary deliberations on the Marcos administration’s proposed P5.268-trillion spending plan.

"From GAA (General Appropriations Act) 2022 to NEP (National Expenditure Program) 2023, it is less than P845 million," she said.

"Compared with what was requested by COA, it is less than P723 million. The main impact of these [decreases] is [that they] would affect the operations of 10 provincial satellite audit offices," Quimbo added.

The Marcos administration proposed a budget of P13.168 billion for the independent body.

In response, Manuel called on his colleagues to work on increasing COA's budget. 

"We hope we can support the COA because they are our partners in preventing corruption in government," Manuel said. "They have a big role in ensuring transparency, and so I hope we can support their efforts.”

Quimbo agreed, saying COA's output guides Congress in drafting amendments to the proposed national budget. — VBL, GMA News