EDITORIAL - Auditing the auditors

She allegedly received a one percent cut, raised to two percent upon her request, from military fund “conversions,” had a boss who acted as her “handler,” and once suggested that certain incriminating documents be burned. Government auditor Divina Cabrera yesterday denied all these allegations made against her by retired military budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa. Officials of the Commission on Audit nevertheless have reportedly decided to pull out Cabrera as resident auditor of the Philippine Navy, where she was reassigned after 13 years in the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

A denial may also be expected from Cabrera’s former boss, COA commissioner Raul Flores, now retired. Rabusa told the Senate yesterday that as budget officer, he met several times with Flores, and at each meeting gave the COA official an envelope containing cash amounting to at least P200,000.

The ISAFP was one of three military offices identified by Rabusa as the sources of “intelligence projects” whose funds were allegedly diverted to the personal piggybanks of certain members of the AFP brass. That fund diversion, if Rabusa is telling the truth, could not have been possible if government auditors were doing their job. One was – Heidi Mendoza, who has lamented the lack of support from some of her COA co-workers and superiors. Rabusa’s testimony yesterday gives an indication of why Mendoza failed to get the support she needed.

What happens when the agency tasked to ensure the judicious utilization of public funds by government agencies fails to fulfill its mandate? The consequences are similar to what the nation suffers when the Office of the Ombudsman itself becomes corrupted or fails in other ways in carrying out its job.

Senators yesterday noted that resident auditors must not be allowed to stay in one posting for more than three years. It should be easy to find out who allowed Cabrera to stay at the ISAFP for 13 years, and why. It takes only an official or two to allow venality to prevail. Lawmakers, working with honest members of the AFP and budget officials, must draw up measures to promote public accountability among government auditors.