MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Audit (COA) on Monday bade goodbye to its first woman chair, Grace Pulido-Tan, who considered the institutional reforms she introduced to weed out “misfits” in the agency among her greatest accomplishments during her four-year stint.
But Tan, who was named by President Aquino to head the COA in April 2011, would perhaps be best remembered for leading the special audit of the Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) of lawmakers that led to the detention of three senators and the filing of criminal charges against other government officials and private individuals.
A lawyer and a certified public accountant, Tan served the unexpired seven-year term of Reynaldo Villar, who resigned in February 2011 following the controversy over his appointment by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2008.