Mt Prov bags nat’l accounting award; Bontoc,Bauko, Besao, Sadanga win LGU category

BONTOC, Mountain Province — Once again, the Provincial Accounting Office of Mountain Province was awarded one of the nation’s Outstanding Government Accounting Office by the Association of Government Accountants of the Philippines, Incorporated (AGAP, Inc.) during the week-long AGAP convention held at the Atrium of Limketkai Center, Limketkai Drive, Cagayan de Oro City last Oct. 23.

In 2018, the PAccO of Mountain Province LGU was the lone awardee from Cordillera and one among the only three PLGU-awardees nationwide which also included the provinces of Albay and Quirino. 

This year, the PLGU-MP was once again one of three awardees under the PLGU category, together with the provinces of Quirino and Albay.  Mountain Province and Quirino garnered their second win while Albay got its third straight win.

The PLGU MP was joined by four municipal LGU awardees: Bontoc, Bauko Besao and Sadanga. Bauko was accorded its second AGAP award while Bontoc LGU has now entered the AGAP Hall of Fame with the latter bagging its third award this 2019.

“We are very happy and proud that all awardees from CAR are from Mountain Province. We hope that other LGUs in the province will be with us next year,” Gov. Bonifacio C. Lacwasan, Jr. said.

In his message, Commission on Audit Commissioner Roland C. Pondoc said that only 41 out of 45 nominees nationwide made it to this national awards.

He added only 41 out of 45 nominees nationwide made it to the national awards after having been able to comply with standards set by AGAP, Inc. The criteria included: 1. Accuracy;

2. Timeliness; 3. Compliance to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and other COA Rules and Regulations; and

4. Rendition of an Unqualified/ Unmodified Opinion on the Financial Reports by the Auditor.

According to AGAP, Inc. president Tina Rose Marie L. Canda, the selection was based from the accounting offices’ financial reports for the Fiscal Year 2018.

Awardees received their respective plaques of recognition donned by COA and AGAP, Inc. officials.

Meanwhile, Provincial Accountant Theodore B. Marrero acknowledged the efforts of the staff of the Provincial Accounting Office.

He said that their collective efforts in maintaining high professional standards in the workplace was very essential for the award.

“We will maintain that high professional and ethical standard and will aim for the same award as we continue improving our services,” Marrero said. — NDRA