Chairperson Michael G. Aguinaldo
SAI Philipines
Message for the INTOSAI Digital University launch
Dear colleagues in the international audit community, it is my distinct pleasure to welcome you to the launch of the INTOSAI Digital University. I hope you are all safe and well as we perform our duties and responsibilities as state auditors during this global pandemic. This is indeed a timely project for the INTOSAI with the way digital technologies have helped state auditors facilitate communication during this time of limited mobility and the emerging importance of digital technologies in improving our processes and systems.
The INTOSAI Digital University is envisioned to be a free online educational platform to share knowledge and experiences for those who are interested in state audit and its value for governments, the academic community, and citizens using digital technologies and capacity building tools. Our dream is to nurture auditors of the future and for this to become a reality, we need to foster our auditors in an environment that encourages innovation and an “experimental mindset.” This is one of our commitments under the Moscow Declaration endorsed at the XXIII INTOSAI Congress in 2019. In that Congress, SAIs resolved to use opportunities brought by technological advancements and to enhance the impact of our audits in the delivery of public services and improving the lives of our people.
In the case of the Philippine SAI, one innovative project that has proven successful and sustainable is our Citizen Participatory Audit (CPA) project, an audit technique bringing together COA auditors and citizens in one audit team. Since its launch in 2012, we have experimented and conducted various modalities where civil society organization partners and citizen-volunteers participate in areas of SAI work. The opportunities where citizens can get involved in public auditing are varied. They may participate in the design of data gathering instruments, share their expertise on highly technical topics, act as interpreters and help simplify audit reports, among others. To date, we have conducted Citizen Participatory Audits of a major flood control project, Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, solid waste management program of local governments, barangay health centers, water, sanitation and hygiene projects, tourism road infrastructure projects and farm-to-market road projects. We have already issued and adopted a policy institutionalizing the CPA program. It is now included in our strategic planning, audit planning framework as well as in the SAI national budget.
We are constantly looking for ways on how to leverage technology in government auditing. In the past, we have adapted the use of geotagging technique in our Citizen Participatory Audits of farm-to-market roads in several provinces in the Philippines. The aim of the audit was to determine the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of the farm-to-market road development program of the Department of Agriculture. Using their cellphone cameras, our citizen partners collected data by taking photos of specific locations on the road project, recorded the geographic positioning coordinates or GPS using Google maps and then uploaded the data in our Geo Store. Our auditors monitoring the Geo Store can easily see that the picture taken is of the site and see the road project’s actual progress. This helped in monitoring the implementation of road projects in several remote locations. We have had ample support from our development partners in this undertaking, in particular the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade which supports the Philippines-Australia Public Financial Management Program and the World Bank who helped us develop our Geo Store.
We are continuously developing information systems to help auditors in their work. An example is our Audit Related Data Information Systems or ARDIS which is a web-based information system capturing audit related information to facilitate monitoring and generation of required reports. It is comprised of information systems that help auditors monitor various aspects of audit work such as the implementation of audit recommendations, the status of activities of audited agencies against the Agency Audit Workplan, cash advances and liquidation made by officers of each government agency and audit results from the issuance of Notices of Suspensions, Disallowance, or Charge to Notices of Finality of Decision and COA Orders of Execution against erring government officials and employees. Currently, we are developing a system that will help secure, preserve and manage audit evidence to support audit conclusions and decisions arising from audit of transactions of government agencies and that serve as legal evidence for on-going and anticipated investigation or court cases.
Another program that we are excited about is Project MIKA-EL or Machine Intelligence, Knowledge-based Audit, and Experience Learning. MIKA-EL is an envisioned artificial intelligence or AI that will work as an audit assistant to help auditors sort and process available digital data. Two features that will be most useful for auditors and officials are the Uploading Portal and the Dashboard. The Uploading Portal is a web-based utility that allows electronic submission of documents by audited agencies. The Dashboard, on the other hand, displays initial findings derived from the analysis of data that are collated and cross-referenced across audited government entities nationwide. The objective of the AI is to bring to the attention of the auditor those out-of-normal transactions for a closer look and earliest possible detection of fraud. This project was presented before the INCOSAI Russia in 2019 and the INTOSAI Working Group on Big Data in 2020.
Knowledge sharing with our counterparts around the world is an integral part of our SAI’s capacity building program. As an active member of the international audit community, the SAI has taken the lead in different working groups, committees, and projects of the INTOSAI. Currently, we are the Chair of the INTOSAI Working Group on Public Debt or WGPD whose roles include addressing the need to strengthen the audit of public debt management through preparing and publishing specific guidance, best practices, and other informational materials. The WGPD membership has grown considerably across regions from 25 in 2016 to 38 and one observer status in SAI France in 2020. This proves the growing interest of the INTOSAI community on matters concerning public debt. Notably, the WGPD has gained approval on the endorsement version of GUID 5250 – Guidance on the Audit of Public Debt for the performance of independent and high-quality audits of public debt and reporting. The endorsement version of the GUID 5250 has been translated into four INTOSAI official languages. The GUID 5250 and the revised TOR were submitted to the INTOSAI Knowledge Sharing Committee for final pronouncement and adoption, respectively, at the 73rd INTOSAI Governing Board Meeting in Brazil. As per the Due Process for the INTOSAI Framework on Professional Pronouncements or the IFPP, final pronouncement of the GUID 5250 shall effectively consider all existing public debt ISSAIs withdrawn and no longer treated as standards for public debt auditors’ guidance. We have also recently concluded our virtual meeting which was conducted through Microsoft Teams in two batches for SAI members in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Around 31 member SAIs participated as we discussed the role of public debt auditors in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
We also Chair the ASEANSAI Training Committee which is mandated to plan, deliver, evaluate, and report training programs, and activities as a form of capacity building for the ASEANSAI member countries. We have taken the lead for ASEANSAI member countries in the CBC IntoSAINT Project Group. We gladly share our expertise in various research projects and activities such as the Research Project on Citizen Participation in Public Audit as the vice-chair, and the Research Project on Quality Control and Data Security as the group leader. The SAI also serves as the work package leader of the Working Group on Environmental Auditing – Work Package on CPA. Latest additions to our international involvements are memberships in the prestigious SAI PMF Independent Advisory Group and the Network of Liaison Officers for INTOSAI Standards.
The experience and knowledge gained by our auditors and officials through active participation in our international engagements and support translate to concrete improvements in our work. For instance, our involvement as Group Leader in drafting the Guidance in the Conduct of Audit Activities with Data Analytics for sub-topic “Quality Control and Data Security” of the Working Group on Big Data was proven helpful in the conduct of an eLearning course on IT Audit. Again with the support of our development partners, we have made great progress in the development and adoption of several manuals on financial audit with the ADB, performance audit with the USAID, and compliance audit as well as a special manual on disaster risk reduction and management which set the standards in the audit of disaster funds in the local government, both with the support of the World Bank. These audit manuals are aligned with the International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions and other international public sector principles and guidance. Likewise, our participation in various capacity-building activities within the INTOSAI community enabled our personnel to perform audits on the Sustainable Development Goals in order to provide follow-up and review of SDGs within the context of the Philippine Government’s sustainable development efforts and SAI audit mandate.
I am truly grateful for the experiences and improvements made in coordination with the INTOSAI. I am sure that the INTOSAI Digital University will contribute immensely to boosting SAIs’ efforts in building capacity at the institutional, organizational and audit professional levels. It is my hope that you will be in the forefront of innovation in the public audit arena. As Thomas Edison once said, “There is a way to do it better—find it.”
Thank you and congratulations!
