No-Contact System! Digitalization, Geo-Tagging For Efficient Audit System

The joke about the Auditor opting to receive a “commission” rather than conduct an audit on a corrupt poltiician which I shared earlier had touched a lot of nerves.

The reason for this feeling of discomfort about the joke is because it is true as this happened in the past and still happening now.

The worst case of atrocities committed against state auditors was believed to be the burning of the Imperial Hotel in Cotabato City in April of 1997 where 24 people perished.

While the names of the fatalities could no longer be retrieved, it is believed that among those who perished in the fire were state auditors who arrived in the city to conduct a special audit of some government agencies in the area.

Nothing really came out of the investigation and it was ruled as a case of arson and the perpetrators were never identified.

I was a new mayor of the town of M’lang when this happened and since most of the newsmen in Cotabato City were my former colleagues, I was able to get inside information on the real motive of the fire.

The real targets of the arson were the state auditors but in the fire many more innocent lives were lost including several people I personally knew who were residents of my province, North Cotabato.

There is really a need to reform the audit system in the country, not only to protect honest state auditors who are doing their tasks, but also to avoid unnecessary delay in the implementation of projects.

While most of our auditors are dedicated and honest public servants, there are also bad eggs in the agency who exploit what one auditor friend said are “loopholes in government transactions” for monetary gains.

Sabi noong auditor na kaibigan ko: “Walang perfect government transaction at kung sisilipan ka intentionally, may sasabit talaga.”

I believe that the best option would be the digitalization of all government audit works and the geo-tagging and satellite mapping of all government projects.

This would minimize the face-to-face engagements between the Auditors and those being audited to ensure transparency and faster auditing process.

Through this innovation in the auditing process, the incidence of corruption and questionable transactions, including the delay caused by unnecessary review of documents would be avoided.

#GovernanceIsCommonSense!