The Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the United Nations reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced his intention today to appoint Philippine Commission on Audit (COA) Acting Chairperson Heidi L. Mendoza to the position of Under-Secretary-General (USG) of the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).
Once appointed, Ms. Mendoza will be the first Filipino to ever serve as Under-Secretary-General in the UN Secretariat. She will serve for five years.
The OIOS assists the Secretary-General in fulfilling his oversight responsibilities in respect of the resources and staff of the UN through internal audit, monitoring, inspection, evaluation and investigation services.
According to the OIOS official website, the Office issues more than 200 reports, and more than 800 recommendations to improve internal controls and correct underlying obstacles to organizational efficiency and effectiveness.
“The appointment of Ms. Heidi Mendoza as UN Under-Secretary-General of an important office that aims to be an agent of change to promote responsible, accountable, and transparent administration of UN resources, is a true testament of her skills and integrity as a public accountant,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario said.
The UN General Assembly is expected to welcome and unanimously confirm Ms. Mendoza’s appointment sometime next week.
With over 20 years of government service particularly in the fields of audit, investigation, fraud examination, anti-corruption and integrity, and advocacy, Ms. Mendoza is no stranger to UN work as she had served as UN Senior External Auditor.
She is a Certified Public Accountant with Masters degrees in National Security Administration and Public Administration with specialization in Fiscal Administration.
Ms. Mendoza will replace outgoing USG Ms. Carmen L. Lapointe of Canada.
A policeman’s daughter
Mendoza is the daughter of a police officer, and is a reserve officer herself in the military.
After graduating from the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP) with a rank of lieutenant colonel in 2003, she was asked by former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo to investigate anomalies in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
She worked with the COA for more than 20 years and became an expert in fraud investigations of government transactions.
Fearless
Heidi Mendoza was assigned at the Office of the Presidential Chief of Staff in Malacañang as head of the financial investigation and transparency group that was conducting a lifestyle check on government officials before she was assigned to lead an 11-member team from the Commission on Audit that was assigned to look into military deals including the soldiers’ pension fund, Balikatan fund, United Nations fund, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Fund. She later testified on alleged suspicious transactions which involved former military comptroller Carlos Garcia and his family, who were charged with a P303-million plunder case.
In her statement to the House of Representatives, Mendoza said that she found a voucher for a P200 million check signed by Garcia. She said that it was a Land Bank check which was encashed in November 2002 in the United Coconut Planters Bank Alfaro branch in Makati City. She has uncovered irregularities that included missing funds in millions of pesos and US dollars. She said that P50 million were taken from the P200-million United Nations (UN) fund representing reimbursement for peacekeeping operation expenses, and another $5-million representing UN reimbursement for equipment.
Mendoza was supported by various individuals including the netizens, the clergy, legislators, the justice secretary, and the President. Twenty Catholic bishops praised her for she risked the security of her life and her family. Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago hopes that her revelations together with those of former military budget officer George Rabusa, should get the wheels. Before Mendoza’s allegations, military officer George Rabusa earlier disclosed the military tradition of giving tens of millions of pesos from a slush fund to Armed Forces chiefs of staff and other top military officials. Mendoza was temporarily placed under the Department of Justice’s Witness Protection Program
Other Filipinos who served in the UN system with the rank of Under-Secretary-General include Mr. Rafael M. Salas, who was appointed as the first Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund in New York from 1969 to 1987; and former Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Domingo L. Siazon, Jr., who was elected as Director-General of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vienna from 1985 to 1993./Junction News Team
