COA and OMB Ink MOA to Investigate and Prosecute Cases of Corruption in Public Office

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Audit (COA) and the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) today launched a joint team to fast-track the investigation and prosecution of cases arising out of COA fraud audit reports. COA Chairperson Ma. Gracia Pulido Tan and Ombudswoman Conchita Carpio Morales signed the Memorandum of Agreement in the newly inaugurated office of the COA-OMB Joint Investigation Team located within the COA premises. Collaborating their anti-corruption initiatives as members of the Inter-Agency Anti-Graft Coordinating Council, COA and the OMB through the joint investigation team aim to ensure the efficient and successful filing, investigation and prosecution of cases involving graft, corruption and violations of the ethical code of conduct for public officials and government employees. "With the Office of the Ombudsman and the COA working together, we are confident that these cases will finally be resolved, the names of innocent individuals cleared, and the accountable officials meted the appropriate penalties," said Ombudswoman Morales. "We are constitutionally mandated in our respective capacities to ensure accountability and integrity in public office," added COA Chairperson Pulido Tan. "We will thus attend to these cases with the highest degree also of accountability and integrity." This institutional partnership is part of an ongoing effort to enhance and expand mutual assistance between COA and the OMB under the leaderships of Ombudswoman Morales and COA Chairperson Pulido Tan. Under the terms of the MOA, which will run for three years, the two Offices will share resources and expertise in the successful processing of cases under joint investigation. The designated focal persons for the COA-OMB Joint Investigation Team are Chief Executive Staff Atty. Gilbert G. Kintanar from the COA, and Deputy Special Prosecutor John I.C. Turalba from the OMB. source