In an aim to effective perform their job to audit the trillion of pesos expenses of all the government agencies, the Commission on Audit (COA) is currently in need of at least 6,000 employees.

In a statement told by the COA Charmain, Michael Aguinaldo, to the lawmakers during a briefing on the commission’s proposed budget for 2018, he claimed and we quoted:

So far, due to lack of personnel in some provinces, one auditor is auditing at least five to six cities or municipalities. As a result, it’s either they can’t be able to finish the job or you can’t expect the result that it’s the best that should come out, according to Aguinaldo.

Thus, to resolve the issue, he added that the commission has been conducting systematic hiring since last year.

However, even if the commission hired about a thousand new personnel, Aguinaldo further noted the commission has an “aging” labor force as its average age of staff is 54 years old. Thus, many of them are filing their retirement.

In fact, just last year, the commission was able to get nearly 1,000 personnel, but some 400 filed retirement. And at the same time, the commission is losing the experience of senior personnel who retire, he added.

He further cited that the commission also lacks personnel to do the necessary tasks other than accounting and auditing. The commission lacks economists, financial analysts, actuaries and statisticians, he added.

Therefore, the commission is currently boarding on an “extensive hiring program” to address the issue by next year.