The publication of articles about the Commission on Audit’s Annual Audit Reports, especially those concerning local government units, has its drawbacks.
While constituents certainly have the right to know the findings of the auditor with regards to the transactions of the LGUs, this paper, or whoever publishes a report on the issue, will have to deal with prickly and overly sensitive chief executives.
Of the 11 audit reports for 2023 that came out in this paper for several months now, the governor and most mayors did not raise the issue with the publisher, except for two.
Early this month, a loyal reader of the Tribune informed that copies of the paper were not available at the store in San Andres where it has been sold for years now.
I told the reader that the issue most likely contained the adverse findings of the COA that was highlighted in the frontpage article.
As to why the copies disappeared from the shelves of the department store, we can only surmise that they were either bought by the incumbent mayor, who wanted the report unseen by constituents, or his close rival, who desired to distribute it in far-flung barangays.
Last Monday, San Miguel Mayor Francisco Camano Jr. called to inquire about the publication of the same article in the Tribune FB page and website.
He was probably worried that the report would be used by his political opponents against his chosen successor.
But Mayor Jun is one mayor who usually does not bother with media reports that are not to his liking although his fear is justified considering that the May 12 elections is just a week away.
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Two members of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to the Philippines are in the province to monitor the preparations, conduct and aftermath of the May 12, 2025 midterm elections.
The team has been deployed to the country beginning March 28 following an invitation from Philippine government and is led by Chief Observer Marta Temido, a member of the European Parliament from Portugal.
A core team of 10 experts based in Manila and 72 long-term observers have been sent across all regions of the country to facilitate a comprehensive observation of the electoral process. Shortly before election day, the mission will be reinforced by an additional 104 short-term observers (STOs), as well as a delegation from the European Parliament, to enhance the observation of polling, automated counting and the tabulation of results.
The Election Observation Missions seeks to strengthen public trust in the elections; encourage civic participation; deter fraud; and, provide an informed, impartial and factual assessment of an election process.
In the long term, the EU aims to improve the overall electoral framework and the context in which elections are held; strengthen the independence and accountability of state institutions; enhance the resilience of partner countries by supporting good governance; and mitigate the potential election-related conflict.
It is the first time that the EU has sent such a mission to the Philippines, with the observers collecting and analyzing factual information to provide an independent public assessment of the electoral process.
They will hold regular meetings with election officials, political parties, candidates, civil society and media throughout the country.
The report of the international observers will deal only with facts that are witnessed or verified by the observers themselves, with the primary output a thorough and comprehensive assessment of the overall administration of the elections as well as the degree of freedom and access granted to candidates, voters and the media.
The mission will issue a preliminary statement
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IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE. Frank always looked on the bright side. He would constantly irritate his friends with his eternal optimism. No matter how horrible the circumstance, he would always reply, “It could have been worse.”
To cure him of his annoying habit, his friends decided to invent a situation so completely bad, so terrible, that even Frank could find no hope in it.
On the golf course one day, one of them said, “Frank, did you hear about Tom? He came home last night, found his wife in bed with another man, shot them both and then turned the gun on himself!”
“That’s awful,” said Frank, “But it could have been worse.”
“How in the hell,” asked his bewildered friend, “Could it have been worse?”
“Well,” replied Frank, “If it happened the night before, I’d be dead now!”