THE SENATE finance committee’s chairman, Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara, said he expects no opposition to the Commission on Audit’s (CoA) proposed 2022 budget of P14.5 billion.
Mr. Angara said in a committee session, in which he was the only member present: “I am not expecting any opposition at all, and in fact I am expecting a lot of support for your budget.”
The proposed budget is 2.47% higher than this year’s P14.1 billion. The budget department’s own proposal for the CoA spending plan is P14.2 billion following reductions to the operating and capital outlay items.
Michael G. Aguinaldo, the CoA chairman, said the commission has written the committee for additional maintenance and other operating expenses.
“If the budget is flexible enough, maybe additional capital outlay for additional provincial satellite auditing offices (PSAO)” he said at the hearing Tuesday.
As of June, said Mr. Aguinaldo, 54 PSAOs have been completed. “We have an additional 14 undergoing construction, some of which may be finished soon. Some are just starting their groundbreaking.”
By next year, 67 or 68 sites are estimated to be completed, he added.
“As before, we’ll endeavor to enable you, fiscally,” Mr. Angara said. “It’s very deserving… you play an important role in our scheme of governance.”
The budget was subsequently endorsed to the Senate plenary, according to the chamber’s Public Relations and Information Bureau. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan
