CHAIRPERSON MICHAEL G. AGUINALDO

Commission on Audit (COA) Chairperson Michael G. Aguinaldo was appointed to head the Supreme Audit Institution on March 24, 2015. Chairperson Aguinaldo is a lawyer with extensive legal, governance and administration expertise acquired from 23 years of professional work as private law practitioner, government official and professor.

Prior to his appointment to COA, Chairperson Aguinaldo was the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs of the Office of the President, handling formulation of operational policies, standards and processes for efficient and effective provision of legal and legislative assistance and services to the organizational units of the Office of the President and the different departments and government agencies.

As Deputy Executive Secretary, he reviewed and prepared decisions on appeals from resolutions, orders and actions of different departments under the jurisdiction of the President and petitions for executive clemency. He also reviewed and submitted recommendations on proposed bills and enrolled bills passed by Congress, the legality of treaties, conventions and executive agreements entered into by the government with other countries for consideration of the President.

He headed the Investigation and Adjudication Office (formerly the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission) and oversaw the implementation of integrity initiatives consistent with the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

Before joining government, Chairperson Aguinaldo was a partner and member of the Executive Committee of the Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & de los Angeles law firm. Having been with the law firm for 17 years, Chairperson Aguinaldo acquired extensive expertise handling special projects, particularly in infrastructure, telecommunications and energy sectors. He has extensive experience in the conduct of legal audit and due diligence of acquisitions and mergers and in compliance-related matters for both foreign and domestic corporations. He has also handled litigation and arbitration for both domestic and international clients in civil, tax, securities and labor cases, and petitions and appeals before the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.

Chairperson Aguinaldo is also a faculty member of the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law, and has taught courses in Obligations and Contracts, Credit Transactions, Legal Forms, Labor Relations, Labor Standards Law and Negotiation Seminar.

He obtained his law degree from the Ateneo in April 1992. Afterwards, he worked as an associate at the De Borja Medialdea Ata Bello Guevara and Serapio law office.

Chairperson Aguinaldo also holds a Special Degree in International Economic Law obtained from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan in May, 1997. He placed 7th in the 1992 Philippine Bar Examinations.

 COMMISSIONER ROLAND C. PONDOC

 Commissioner Roland Café Pondoc was nominated to the Commission on Audit (COA) by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on February 6, 2018 and was confirmed unanimously by the Commission on Appointments on March 14, 2018, for a term of seven (7) years expiring on February 2, 2025. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Lawyer, Commissioner Pondoc concentrated his love for education with his Alma Mater, the University of Mindanao (UM) - Davao City, for 22 years, while practicing both of his professions.

He served as a professor in the Colleges of Accountancy, Law, Business Administration, Criminology and the Graduate Studies of the said institution from 1994 to 2016. He was an Assistant Dean of the College of Law and also served as Director of the Office of the Student Affairs. Commissioner Pondoc’s exceptional work as an educator was recognized by his Alma Mater which awarded him the Outstanding Employee Award in 2002, Outstanding Professor Award in 2005 and Golden Harvest Awards for his outstanding achievements as Professor in the years 2008, 2009 and 2010. As Commissioner of COA, he was bestowed with the Institutional Award in 2018, the highest and most prestigious award given to outstanding Alumni by the said University for his exemplary track record.

While in the academe, he also served his co-employees being the President of the UM Employees Cooperative for six consecutive years from 2005 until 2010, and he is still active today in the Cooperative movement as member of various cooperative organizations.

He was also a National Awardee as an Outstanding Business Educator in the Field of Accountancy in the years 2004 and 2011 conferred by the Philippine Council of Deans and Educators in Business (PCDEB), and by the Petron Foundation. In 2020, he was a recipient of Signum Meriti Award, the highest institutional citation of honor conferred by the Saint Paul School of Professional Studies (SPSPS) of Palo, Leyte, for his outstanding performance in the fields of Accountancy and Legal Education, and in the Government Service.

Moreover, he became a National Awardee of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) for four times: as Most Outstanding CPA in Education in 2008; as Most Outstanding PICPA Member in 2009; as Most Outstanding PICPA Chapter President in 2015; and as Most Outstanding CPA in Government in 2018. And for FY 2020-2021, he is the Vice President for Government Sector of the PICPA National Board, while being the Senior Regional Director for the PICPA-Southern Mindanao Region.

Before concentrating in the academe, he worked for private companies from 1988-1995: as Accountant of the Tri-Star Corporation, as Special Assistant to the Vice President of Eden Corporation, and also as Data Controller of Jesus V. Ayala Management Corporation, right after his graduation at the age of 19.

After he decided to leave his full-time work in the academe, he diverted his concentration to public service. Commissioner Pondoc joined the government service in 2014 as full-time Legal Officer of the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City, where he also provided free legal services to indigent patients of the said largest, if not, the biggest government hospital in our country today.
Prior to his nomination, Commissioner Pondoc was appointed as the Assistant Executive Secretary in the Office of the President on September 1, 2016, and specifically assigned as the Assistant Deputy Director General for the Administration, Logistics and Finance of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 2017 National Organizing Council for the entire period of the Philippine Hosting of the ASEAN 2017 Summits and Related Meetings. He was directly in-charge of the logistic requirements of all conducted meetings regardless of its location in the country and the number of foreign and local delegates involved. He was also in charge of carefully and critically monitoring the proper utilization of the budget intended for the said events. And as a result of his dedication and contributions toward the successful Philippine Hosting of ASEAN 2017, he was recognized in 2018 as recipient of the Presidential Citation conferred by no less than President Duterte himself in Malacañan Palace.

Commissioner Pondoc finished his primary education at the University of Immaculate Conception (formerly ICC) and Rizal Memorial Colleges, both in Davao City, while his secondary education at the Davao City National High School (formerly DCHS).

He was a magna cum laude graduate of Bachelor of Science in Commerce major in Accounting in 1988. He obtained his Master in Business Administration in 1997, and finished his Juris Doctor (JD) for his Law course in 2001 as a recipient of the Achiever’s Award, and immediately passed the Bar exam of the same year. He was a recipient of the Tambuli Award as Most Outstanding Alumnus as educator in 2009 and as Outstanding UM Alumnus Awardee in government service by the UM Alumni Association, Inc. in 2019.

He is a Reservist of the Philippine Air Force with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and also a Licensed Real Estate Appraiser, a Licensed Real Estate Broker, as well as a member of the ASEAN Chartered Professional Accountants (ACPA). He maintained his being an Accredited External Auditor by the Board of Accountancy (BOA), and while he was in the public practice he was an Accredited Tax Practitioner by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and an Accredited External Auditor for Cooperatives by the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA). Presently, he is the Chairperson of the Gender and Development Focal Point System of COA and one of the prime movers of the Integrity Management Program in the Commission on Audit.

With his mentioned work background, Commissioner Pondoc has already covered all four sectors of Accountancy, namely, Commerce and Industry, Academe, Public Practice and Government Sectors, respectively.

And as the Commission on Audit is engaged as auditor of various International Organizations, Commissioner Pondoc has represented COA as External Auditor of the World Health Organization (WHO) and its subsidiary offices, also as Financial Adviser for various United Nations (UN) Meetings, and as Member of Commission on Finances for Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Commissioner Pondoc is married to his beautiful wife, Gilen Noval, and they are blessed with two sons, namely, Ralph Albert and Roice William.