President Duterte had a stern warning for COA Chairman Aguinaldo amidst the alleged “hesitancy” to audit the Philippine Red Cross.
President Rodrigo Duterte had a stern warning for Commission on Audit (COA) Chairman Michael Aguinaldo amidst the alleged “hesitancy” to audit the Philippine Red Cross (PRC).
In his “Talk to the People” address aired late Monday night, the President warned Aguinaldo that failure on his part to lead an audit of the Philippine Red Cross would constitute a violation not only the Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, but of the Constitution itself.
This, after President Duterte got wind of alleged “hesitancy” from the COA chief to carry out an audit of the international aid organization.
President Duterte noted that he had already told the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to ask the Commission on Audit to conduct the audit on Philippine Red Cross’ finances.
READ ALSO: President Duterte Orders Calida To Formally Request COA To Audit PH Red Cross
Manila Bulletin reported that the Office of the Solicitor General basically acted as the “lawyer” of the Republic of the Philippines. The Philippine Red Cross was chaired by Senator Richard Gordon.
“Now..there seems to be a hesitancy? Parang nag-hesitate si [Aguialdo] …well, again, that is a mandate of the Constitution even. [If] you fail to do that, Mr. Chairman, sorry that’s a…above all others that you’ve failed to do, that is a violation of the anti-graft and corrupt practices law,” President Duterte said, referring to Republic Act No. 3019. “That is an omission, and that omission comes from the non-observance of a provision in the Constitution.”
The President had previously said that the mandate covered subsidy or equity indirectly or directly received from or through the government.
He had also claimed that the Philippine Red Cross received money from both the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), thus making the private entity “auditable”.
Earlier, President Duterte said this month that it would be a dereliction of duty on the part of Aguinaldo if the Commission on Audit didn’t audit the Philippine Red Cross. There had since been steady pressure from Malacañang for the Commission on Audit to perform such audit.
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