MBHTE laments leakage of 'confidential' COA document

COTABATO CITY -- The Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education (MBHTE) has expressed "serious concern" over the leakage to public attention of a purported "confidential" report from the Commission on Audit (COA), saying the document was supposed to elicit necessary "comments" from the Bangsamoro education agency. "Such documents are preliminary in nature and are intended to facilitate internal review, clarification, and due process and their 'unauthorized circulation' was affront to the principle of regular proceedings in an audit system," the MBHTE said in a statement sent to The Manila Times. Some national media entities published last week the content of the 11-page document, which was covered with an official COA letterhead marked as "Strictly confidential -- For purposes of comments only." The MBHTE, the education ministry of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), pointed out that the "release of this material (document) to the public, without context and prior to the completion of audit proceedings, is improper and undermines established rules on confidentiality within government processes." The agency, led by Mohagher Iqbal, said it "firmly maintains that all transactions remain subject to lawful procedures, audit verification, and appropriate documentation." Get the latest news delivered to your inbox Sign up for The Manila Times newsletters By signing up with an email address, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. "The ministry is fully cooperating with the Commission on Audit and will address all observations through the proper channels," the MBHTE statement said. The MBHTE officialdom urged the Commission on Audit "to immediately look into how a document explicitly marked 'Strictly Confidential - For Comments Purposes Only' was disclosed outside authorized channels, and to take the necessary steps to preserve the integrity of its audit processes." Advertisement It also called on the public "to exercise discernment and to allow the audit to proceed in accordance with due process before any conclusions are drawn." The 11-page preliminary report contains the "special fraud audit investigation conducted by the COA on the procurement of learning materials by the MBHTE covering disbursement purportedly amounting to P2.2 billion. The audit was conducted in August last year by a team reportedly dispatched by COA Chairman Gamaliel Cordoba. The team's acquisition of financial documents from the MBHTE had earlier drawn local media attention when dozens of police and Marine operatives in full battle gear barged into the agency compound inside the BARMM complex to pave the way for the entry of the special audit group. Advertisement MBHTE officials decried the incident as "overkill," saying not one of the hundreds of MBHTE personnel was poised to block or resist the audit team's entry. In a message to The Manila Times, Minister Iqbal said the MBHTE has been cooperating in the conduct of the special audit, and that they were ready to answer the preliminary COA report.