COA auditor behind controversial DOH report passes away after a heart attack
A state auditor behind the controversial Department of Health (DOH) audit report has died after suffering a heart attack, according to a former Commission on Audit (COA) official.
In a Facebook post, former COA commissioner Heidi Mendoza said that her former co-worker lawyer Jake Cimafranca may have passed away due to the stress of working at the COA.
In another post, Mendoza said that Cimafranca also helped draft the audit report in relation to the Department of Information and Communications Technology.
Meanwhile, Duterte slammed COA on Monday night after it pointed out the deficiencies in the Department of Health’s (DOH) spending on the P67 billion COVID-19 response fund.
According to the annual audit report of COA for DOH in 2020, the deficiencies are caused by non-compliance with pertinent laws and regulations which have led to missed opportunities during the health crisis.
The President said to let them finish their projects first before doing the annual auditing process.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III lamented during a House panel briefing on COA’s audit how the report provided a “damning judgment.”
But COA Chairperson Michael Aguinaldo stressed that the agency will continue making and publishing audit reports of government agencies despite criticisms from Duque and Duterte.
The Commission on Audit (COA) is an independent constitutional commission established by the Constitution of the Philippines. It has the primary function to examine, audit and settle all accounts and expenditures of the funds and properties of the Philippine government.
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