THE Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns (BWSC), an agency under the labor department that champions the welfare and protection of the disadvantaged workers, recently obtained an unqualified audit rating from the Commission on Audit (COA).

Getting the COA's unqualified audit rating is a result of an agency's leadership thrust to improve the quality of its services toward meeting the highest standards of transparency, accountability and good governance.

In her report to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, BWSC Director Ma. Karina Perida Trayvilla said the unqualified report was rendered by COA over the fairness of the Bureau's presentation of 2019 financial documents of its Social Amelioration Program (SAP) in the sugar industry.

SAP is one of the flagship programs of the BWSC that seeks to improve and uplift the sugar workers sector in general, as provided under Republic Act 6982 of 1991, or "An Act Strengthening the Social Amelioration Program in the Sugar Industry."

"The program showed fairness in its Statement of Financial Position as of December 31, 2019, and its financial performance, changes in net assets/equity, cash flows, comparison of budget and actual amounts, and notes to the financial statements, which are all in accordance with the Philippine Public Sector Accounting Standards (PPSAs), and the International Standard of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAIs)," the report read.

While the bureau received an unqualified audit rating, Trayvilla said BWSC is committed to address the comments and suggestions rendered by COA to further enhance the implementation of SAP in the sugar industry.

"I am delighted with the unqualified audit rating we received from the state auditor as it proves the effectiveness of our program to soundly and prudently use its funds for the benefit of the sugar workers," Trayvilla said.