Mendoza accepts appointment to UN unit

MANILA, Philippines - Commission on Audit (COA) Commissioner Heidi Mendoza has accepted her appointment as head of the United Nations Internal Oversight Services.

In a statement issued yesterday, Mendoza thanked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for recognizing the “humble contribution of a Philippine public servant in the area of combating corruption and espousing good governance.”

“I am thankful to the different member states and the General Assembly for their vote of confidence,” she added.

Mendoza, who was appointed COA commissioner in March 2011, also thanked all her former colleagues.

She is leaving COA without finishing her seven-year term. This means her successor will serve her unexpired term of more than two years.

“With the prayers of those whom I have served and a heart full of gratitude to the people that I have served for the past 25 years, I am taking the challenge of heading the Office of Internal Oversight Services of the United Nations,” Mendoza said. 

She thanked President Aquino “for taking the difficult task of leading a country wanting in reforms and yet oftentimes cynical of the sincerity and contributions of people in government.”

She also expressed her gratitude to those who supported her in 2011 “as I took on the painful task of truth telling and confronting the inner and external threats to the only office that I have loved and served with unceasing commitment and dedication,” referring to her exposés on misuse of public funds by former Armed Forces of the Philippines comptroller Carlos Garcia.