Chairperson Aguinaldo envisions a Supreme Audit Institution that not only guards public resources but also empowers and enables its various stakeholders to perform their mandates effectively and efficiently. Under his leadership, the Commission has continuously raised the quality of audit services with accounting and auditing reforms to harmonize with international standards and trends,helped government agencies strengthen their internal control systems, implemented performance audit and integrity management initiatives, and institutionalized the Citizen Participatory Audit (CPA) program to further promote transparency and accountability by engaging citizens in the public audit process. The CPA program has already earned international accolades, including the 2013 Bright Spot at the Open Government Partnership Summit in London and a Special Mention Award from the Jury of Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency. The Commission is the Vice-Chair of the INTOSAI Research Project on the CPA.
Chairperson Aguinaldo is a lawyer with extensive legal, governance and administration expertise acquired from more than 30 years of professional work as private law practitioner, government official and professor. Prior to his COA appointment, he was the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs of the Office of the President. He obtained his juris doctor degree from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1992. He also holds a Master’s Degree with special concentration in International Economic Law from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1997. He was recently conferred with honorary degrees from two Philippine universities for exemplary work in promoting good governance and observance of the rule of law in public service. He was also awarded with the 2019 Metrobank Foundation Professorial Chair for Public Service and Governance, an annual award given to distinguished servant leaders. He placed 7th in the 1992 Philippine Bar Examinations.
