TITLE I

THE COMMISSION ON AUDIT

CHAPTER 1
ORGANIZATION
 SECTION 5
Composition of the
Commission on Audit;
qualifications, term, and
salary of members.
(1) The Commission on Audit, hereinafter
referred to as the Commission, shall
be composed of a Chairman and two
Commissioners, who shall be natural-
born citizens of the Philippines and, at
the time of their appointment, at least
forty years of age and certified public
accountants or members of the
Philippine Bar for at least ten years.
(2) The Chairman and the Commissioners
shall be appointed by the Prime
Minister for a term of seven years
without reappointment. Of the
Commissioners first appointed, one
shall hold office for seven years,
another for five years, and the third
for three years. Appointment to any
vacancy shall only be for the
unexpired portion of the term of the
predecessor.
(3) The Chairman and each Commissioner
shall receive an annual salary of sixty
thousand pesos and fifty thousand
pesos, respectively, which shall not be
decreased during their continuance in
office.
 SECTION 6
The Commission Proper
(1) For purposes of this Code and as a
component of the organizational
structure of the Commission, the
Chairman and the two Commissioners
shall together be known as the
Commission Proper and as such shall
be distinguished from the other
components of the Commission
consisting of the central and regional
offices which are hereinafter created.
(2) The Commission Proper shall sit as a
body to determine policies,
promulgate rules and regulations, and
prescribe standards governing the
performance by the Commission of its
powers and functions.
(3) The Chairman shall act as the
presiding officer of the Commission
Proper and the chief executive officer
of the Commission. As such chief
executive officer, he shall be
responsible for the general
administration of the Commission.
(4) The Chairman and each Commissioner
shall have such technical and clerical
personnel in their respective offices as
may be required by the exigencies of
the service.
 SECTION 7
Central and Regional
Offices
(1) The Commission shall have the following
central offices:
a. Administrative Office
b. Planning, Financial, and Management Office
c. Legal Office
d. Accountancy Office
e. National Government Audit Office
f. Local Government Audit Office
g. Corporate Audit Office
h. Performance Audit Office
i. Manpower Development Office
j. Technical Service Office
(2) The Commission shall keep and
maintain such regional offices as may
be required by the exigencies of the
service in accordance with the
Integrated Reorganization Plan for the
national government, or as may be
provided by law, which shall serve as
the immediate representatives of the
Commission in the regions under the
direct control and supervision of the
Chairman.
(3) The central and regional offices shall
each be headed by a Manager and a
Regional Director, respectively. The
Manager of the Legal Office shall also
be known and shall act as the General
Counsel of the Commission.
 SECTION 8
Commission Secretariat
There shall be a Commission
Secretariat to be headed by the
Secretary to the Commission who shall
have the rank and privileges of a
central office manager.
 SECTION 9
The Administrative Office
The Administrative Office shall perform the
following functions:
(1) Develop and maintain a personnel program
which shall include recruitment, selection,
appointment, performance evaluation,
employee relations, and welfare services; and
(2) Provide the Commission with services related
to personnel, records, supplies, equipment,
medical, collections and disbursements,
security, general and other related services.
 SECTION 10
The Planning, Financial,
and Management Office
The Planning, Financial, and Management
Office shall have the following functions:
(1) Formulate long-range and annual plans
and programs for the Commission;
(2) Formulate basic policies and guidelines for
the preparation of the budget of the
Commission, coordinate with the Budget
Commission and the Office of the
President (Prime Minister) in the
preparation of the said budget;
The Planning, Financial, and Management
Office shall have the following functions:
(3) Maintain and administer the accounting
system pertaining to the accounts of the
Commission;
(4) Develop and administer a system for
monitoring the prices of materials,
supplies, and equipment purchased by the
government;
The Planning, Financial, and Management
Office shall have the following functions:
(5) Develop and maintain the management
information system of the Commission; and
(6) Develop and administer a management
improvement program, including a system for
measurement of performance of auditing units
on which an annual report shall be submitted to
the Chairman not later than the thirty-first day
of January each year.
 SECTION 11
The Legal Office
The Legal Office shall be charged with the
following responsibilities:

(1) Perform advisory and consultative

functions and render legal services with
respect to the performance of the
functions of the Commission and the
interpretation of pertinent laws and
auditing rules and regulations;
The Legal Office shall be charged with the
following responsibilities:
(2) Handle the investigation of administrative
cases filed against the personnel of the
Commission, evaluate and act on all
reports of involvement of the said
personnel in anomalies or irregularities in
government transactions, and perform
any other investigative work required by
the Commission upon assignment by the
Chairman;
The Legal Office shall be charged with the
following responsibilities:
(3) Represent the Commission in preliminary
investigations of malversation cases
discovered in audit, assist and collaborate
with the Solicitor General and the Tanod
Bayan in handling cases involving the
Chairman or any of the Commissioners,
and other officials and employees of the
Commission in their official capacity; and
The Legal Office shall be charged with the
following responsibilities:
(4) Coordinate, for the Commission and with
the appropriate legal bodies of
government, with respect to legal
proceedings towards the collection and
enforcement of debts and claims, and the
restitution of funds and property, found to
be due any government agency in the
settlement and adjustment of its accounts
by the Commission.
 SECTION 12
The Accountancy Office
The Accountancy Office shall have the
following functions:

(1) Prepare, for the Commission, the annual

financial report of the Government, its
subdivisions, agencies, and
instrumentalities, including government-
owned or controlled corporations, and
such other financial or statistical reports
as may be required by the Commission;
The Accountancy Office shall have the
following functions:

(2) Verify appropriations of national

government agencies and control fund
releases thereto; and
(3) Prepare statements on revenues and
expenditures of local government units,
and on their legal borrowing and net
paying capacities for re-classification and
other purposes.
 SECTION 13
The National
Government Audit Office
The National Government Audit Office shall
perform the following functions:

(1) Formulate and develop plans, programs,

operating standards, and administrative
techniques for the implementation of
auditing rules and regulations in
departments, regions, bureaus, and
offices of the National Government;
The National Government Audit Office shall
perform the following functions:

(2) Formulate accounting rules and

regulations for departments, regions,
bureaus, and offices of the National
Government; and
(3) Advise and assist the Chairman on
matters pertaining to the audit of the
departments, regions, bureaus, and
offices of the National Government.
 SECTION 14
The Local Government
Audit Office
The Local Government Audit Office shall have
the following functions:
(1) Formulate and develop plans, programs,
operating standards, and administrative
techniques for the implementation of
auditing rules and regulations in local
government units;
(2) Formulate accounting rules and
regulations for local government units;
and
The Local Government Audit Office shall have
the following functions:
(3) Advise and assist the Chairman on
matters pertaining to the audit of local
government units.
 SECTION 15
The Corporate Audit
Office
The Corporate Audit Office shall perform the
following functions:
(1) Formulate and develop plans, programs,
operating standards, and administrative
techniques for the implementation of auditing
rules and regulations in government- owned or
controlled corporations and self-governing
boards, commissions, or agencies of the
government, as well as for the conduct of audit
of financial operations of public utilities and
franchises;
The Corporate Audit Office shall perform the
following functions:

(2) Formulate accounting rules and

regulations for government-owned or
controlled corporations and self-governing
boards, commissions, or agencies of the
government;
The Corporate Audit Office shall perform the
following functions:
(3) Advise and assist the Chairman on
matters pertaining to the audit of
government- owned or controlled
corporations and self-governing boards,
commissions, or agencies of the
government; and
(4) Consolidate the corporate audit reports
from all the regions for inclusion in the
annual report of the Commission.
 SECTION 16
The Performance Audit
Office
The Performance Audit Office shall have the
following functions:
(1) Conduct, consistently with the exercise by the
Commission of its visitorial powers as hereinafter
conferred, variable scope audit of non-
governmental firms subsidized by the government
or government authority, or those required to pay
levies or government share, those funded by
donations through the government, and those for
which the government has put up a counterpart
fund: Provided, That such audits shall be limited to
the funds or subsidies coming from the
government; and
The Performance Audit Office shall have the
following functions:
(2) Undertake audits of the legality of
government expenditures, with particular
emphasis on the statutory authority
governing the usage of appropriated
funds.
 SECTION 17
The Manpower
Development Office
The Manpower Development Office shall
perform the following functions:

(1) Formulate long-range plans for a

comprehensive training program for all
personnel of the Commission and
personnel of the agencies of government,
with respect to Commission rules and
regulations and audit matters;
The Manpower Development Office shall
perform the following functions:
(2) Prepare and implement annual training
programs, consistent with its long-range
plans;
(3) Develop its capability to implement
training programs;
(4) Set up and maintain a library for the
Commission; and
(5) Publish the professional journal of the
Commission.
 SECTION 18
The Technical Service
Office
The Technical Service Office shall perform the
following functions:

(1) Develop and propose auditing systems for

implementation in the government;
(2) Render consultancy services related to
the discharge of government auditing
functions;
The Technical Service Office shall perform the
following functions:

(3) Assist in the formulation of accounting

rules and regulations and in seeing to it
that these are observed by agencies of
government, in coordination with the
Accountancy Office;
(4) Review and evaluate contracts, and inspect
and appraise infrastructure projects; and
(5) Initiate special studies on auditing matters.
 SECTION 19
The Regional Offices
Each regional office shall perform the
following functions:
(1) Exercise supervision and control over the
implementation of auditing rules and
regulations in any agency of the
government with principal offices or place
of operations within the region, including
the National Assembly;
(2) Review, analyze and consolidate local,
national and corporate audit reports
pertaining to the region;
Each regional office shall perform the
following functions:
(3) Upon delegation by the Commission
Proper, exercise authority on internal
Commission administration on personnel,
planning, financial (budgetary and
accounting), and legal matters pertaining
to the region; and
(4) Perform such other related functions as
may be assigned by the Chairman.
 SECTION 20
Auditing Units;
Qualifications and
Assignment of Heads
(1) There shall be in each agency of the
government an auditing unit which shall
be provided by the audited agency with a
suitable and sufficient office space
together with supplies, equipment,
furniture, and other necessary operating
expenses for its proper maintenance,
including expenses for travel and
transportation.
(2) The auditing unit shall be headed by an
auditor assigned by the Commission who
shall be a certified public accountant or a
member of the Bar or a holder of a college
degree in commerce or business
administration, major in accounting.
(3) The corresponding assignment orders
issued by the Commission to such
auditors and their support personnel
holding core auditing positions shall be
supplementary to their appointments
which are without specification of station.
(4) The Commission shall have the authority
to make changes in such assignments and
to effect a periodic reshuffle of heads of
auditing units as well as their support
personnel whenever the exigencies of the
service so require. However, such
changes and reshuffle shall not affect the
tenure of office of the incumbents of the
positions involved and shall not constitute
a demotion or reduction in rank or salary,
nor result in a change in status.
 SECTION 20
Auditing Units for
Newly-Created Agencies
 The creation of every new agency shall be
construed to include the establishment of an
auditing unit therein, and the appropriation or
allotment therefor is deemed to include the
amounts necessary to provide such agency
with adequate auditing services as
determined by the Commission.