Citizen Participatory Audit: An Approach for Accountability in the Philippines

International Conference on the Communities of Practice on Managing for Development Results Instruments for Effective Development

November 1-3, 2015

Seoul, Korea

Rosa Dela Cruz

Auditor, Philippine Commission on Audit

Vivien Suerte-Cortez Manager, ANSA–EAP Foundation

An overview

CITIZEN PARTICIPATORY AUDIT “As the state’s supreme audit institution, we have a duty to the public... We also recognize that citizens are a key stakeholder in what the government does, and in what COA does.” Maria Gracia M. Pulido Tan, Former COA Chairperson

A priority program of the Commission on Audit that upholds the people’s primordial right to a clean

government and the prudent utilization of public resources, founded on the premise that public

accountability can prosper only with a vigilant and involved citizenry, for the promotion of transparency

and effectiveness.

– COA Operational Guidelines

What is Citizen Participatory Audit?

• A mechanism for strategic partnership and sharing of aspirations, goals and objectives between the COA and civil society.

• An audit technique that brings together CSOs, citizens, and COA auditors as one audit team

• A technique for citizen involvement in various areas of COA’s work as partners.

– COA Operational Guidelines

What is Citizen Participatory Audit?

What is Citizen Participatory Audit?

CPA uses the constructive engagement approach between citizens and government in monitoring government’s use of public resources to improve

service delivery, protect rights, and promote community welfare.

In CPA, citizens are included in the team to make government more effective, transparent, and accountable

Always under the direct supervision of COA.

What is Citizen Participatory Audit?

CPA Components

• i-kwenta.com • brings the audit process closer to the general public by making

technical information easily understandable through infographics on the COA’s audit function

• medium for informing the public about the CPA including the published reports on audits conducted

• website to submit complaints

• Public Information System (PIS) • an automated system which manages information on public

feedback and the actions taken thereon by the COA

CPA Components

THE COMMISSION ON AUDIT (COA) AND ANSA–EAP’S EXPERIENCE

Citizen Participatory Audit

Step 1

CITIZEN BUY-IN AND SHARED AGENDA BUILDING

Through COA’s citizen partner that linked COA to CSOs, a series of activities were conducted to bring the idea of the CPA to the citizens then jointly identified areas they want audited under CPA.

Step 2 COMPETENCY BUILDING

Trainings were conducted: COA 101, CSO 101, the CPA, audit concepts & procedures including geotagging

Step 3 MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT (MOA) SIGNING

This formalized the partnership. The MOA includes the Operational Guidelines jointly drafted by CSOs and COA.

Step 4 CITIZEN PARTNER NOMINATION

Selected representatives were nominated by the CSOs that were signatory to the MOA, to become citizen-auditors through a formal process.

Citizen Participatory Audit Process (The Full Cycle Modality)

Step 5 CITIZEN AUTHORIZATION AS AUDIT TEAM MEMBER

CSO-nominees to the audit teams were formally authorized by COA as audit team members.

Step 6 AUDIT TEAM PLANNING

The Audit Team composed of the Supervising Auditor, Audit Team Leader and Audit Team Members (COA organic personnel), and authorized citizens developed the Audit Program, identifying specific duties and responsibilities of each individual. The Directors performed oversight supervision over the audit team.

Step 7 AUDIT TEAM FIELD WORK

Working as a team, the auditors and the citizens gathered data together.

Step 8 AUDIT TEAM DATA ANALYSIS

Data gathered were analyzed together by the audit team.

Citizen Participatory Audit Process (The Full Cycle Modality)

Step 9 AUDIT REPORTING

The audit team, including its citizen partners participated in audit report writing activities.

Step 10 AUDIT MONITORING

The COA Auditor, as part of his/her regular functions, follow-up with the auditee on the status of implementation of audit recommendations. The validation of the auditee’s response may be participated in by citizen partners.

Step 11 ADVOCACY

Together with the CSOs, advocacy strategies will be designed to ensure that audit recommendations will be implemented and the expected impact attained.

Citizen Participatory Audit Process (The Full Cycle Modality)

CSO PARTNERS AND ROLES

Citizen Participatory Audit

• Department of Public Works and Highways’ KAMANAVA Flood Control System • Concerned Citizens of Abra for Good Government

• Diaspora for Good Governance

• International Alert

• Marikina City’s Barangay Health Centers • Ateneo School of Government

• ANSA–EAP Foundation

• Quezon City’s Solid Waste Management Program • Kapitbisig Homeowners Association

• Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Magulang

Citizen Participatory Audit CSO Partners in Pilot Audits

• Disaster Relief Audit on Super Typhoon Haiyan

• Leyte Family Development Organizations MPC

• International Holistic Engagement for Life and Progress

• Philippine Relief and Development Services

• Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants

• Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers – Eastern Visayan State University Chapter

• Junior Philippine Institute of Accountants – Eastern Visayan State University Chapter

Citizen Participatory Audit CSO Partners in Pilot Audits

• Roles of Citizen Partners

• Provided inputs in crafting the Operational Guidelines

• With COA, participated in the Capacity Building Workshop

• With COA, identified the objectives, scope and methodology during audit planning

• With COA, gathered data during the audit execution stage

• Facilitated the Community Scorecard

• With COA, designed the survey tool

• Survey enumerators for the three largest barangays in Quezon City

• With COA, assessed data results

• With COA, drafted the audit report

Citizen Participatory Audit Roles of CSO Partners

AUDIT RESULTS

Citizen Participatory Audit

Citizen Participatory Audit KAMANAVA Flood Control Project

Citizen Participatory Audit KAMANAVA Flood Control Project

Audit Objective:

• The audit verified / validated if the project attained its objective of flood mitigation.

Audit Conclusion

• The flood control project did not completely mitigate the flooding caused by high tide and heavy rains due to:

• deficiencies in the structures and design,

• existence of informal settlers and large volumes of garbage in the project sites, and

• inadequate personnel and communication facilities.

Citizen Participatory Audit Barangay Health Centers

Citizen Participatory Audit Marikina City Barangay Health Centers

Audit Objectives

• To determine how well the BHCs operated in terms of the minimum requirements of the DoH and the DSWD

• To determine how well the BHCs operated in terms of certain expectations of their clients

Audit Results

• Facilities

• Not accessible to those who live far from the Barangay Centers

• No lying-in and birthing facilities

• Need more personnel to maintain clean facilities

• Need supply of potable water

• Insufficient waiting areas and comfort rooms

Audit Results • Resources

• Overwhelming community demand for services

• BHCs are undermanned and staff are overworked

• Equipment

• Old, overused and outdated. Numbers are not proportional to demand.

• Medicines and Supplies

• Inadequate supplies to meet demand

• Incomplete dosage of critical medicines

• Health Services and Programs

• Not maximized due to lack of Barangay Health Center personnel

• Need to automate the patients’ records

Citizen Participatory Audit Barangay Health Centers

Citizen Participatory Audit Solid Waste Management

Audit Objectives

• The audit focused on how Quezon City implements its Solid Waste Management program.

Audit Results

• Quezon City has a Solid Waste Management Board but it had very limited operations/is not in accordance with The Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

• Quezon City has a Ten-Year Ecological Solid Waste Management Program, however, there were instances of non-compliance in the review and updating of the Plan.

Citizen Participatory Audit CCT Beneficiaries in Barangay Health Centers

• Audit Results

• All of the respondents were satisfied, at varying degrees, with the cleanliness of their communities.

• “Not understanding the purpose and process of waste segregation” was identified as the reason why 25% of the respondents did not practice segregation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste.

• Therefore, more targeted IEC campaigns to address this 25% of the population are still needed to enjoin them as active partners of the City in achieving its environmental goals.

Citizen Participatory Audit Solid Waste Management

MAKING IT A GLOBAL PRACTICE

Citizen Participatory Audit

What the Commission on Audit has done

• Responded to the call for Open Government Partnership

• Through the Citizen Participatory Audit initiative and reform strategy

• Knowledge sharing on the CPA

• Presentations on the CPA in various international gatherings

• Joined on-line dialogues on citizen participation in government processes

Citizen Participatory Audit Making it a Global Practice

What the Commission on Audit has done

• Harnessing technology in CPA

• Trainings on geotagging assisted by the DFAT-AusAID and the World Bank; and application in CPA

• Initiated multi-stakeholder policy formulation of geotagging operations and development of a geotagging information management system (GeoStore)

Citizen Participatory Audit Making it a Global Practice

What the Commission on Audit will do

• Knowledge sharing / exchange with INTOSAI on the development of ISSAI on citizen participation in audit

• Knowledge sharing / exchange with other SAIs

Citizen Participatory Audit Making it a Global Practice

Accountable

Transparent

Public Audit Participatory

Maraming salamat po. (Thank you very much.)