06 March 2015 - The Philippine Consulate General in Sydney hosted the Finance Officers’ Training Workshop on Financial Management Reporting for Asia-Pacific, Libya and Brazil from March 02 to 05.

The training workshop aimed to equip the Finance Officers of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) with knowledge on the new standards and reportorial requirements set by the Philippine Government's Public Financial Management reforms roadmap. The topics discussed included updates on public financial management reforms, an overview of the Unified Accounts Code Structure (UACS), procurement planning, budget process, internal control policies, guidelines on government expenditures, revenues and collections, and the Commission on Audit revised rules and procedures.

The resource persons for the training workshop were DFA Special Assistant to the Undersecretary for Administration Arvic Arevalo, Commission on Audit (COA) Director Marietta Lorenzo, DFA Office of Financial Management Services (OFMS) Acting Director Laarni Gandarosa, and DFA Resident Auditor Pearl Ramos.

During the opening of the workshop, Philippine Consul General Anne Jalando-on Louis welcomed the participants to Sydney and wished the Finance Officers a successful and fruitful four-day training that would further enhance their knowledge and skills on financial management.

In her message, Philippine Ambassador to Australia Belen F. Anota encouraged the participants to be open to learning and to practicing the new systems and processes that form part of the Philippine Government's thrust towards transparency. She cited the pronouncement of President Benigno S. Aquino III that “Good governance is good economics.” Ambassador Anota said that despite the learning curve that such changes entail for the finance officers, their efforts would be a significant contribution towards the government’s continued path to good governance.

Twenty-nine (29) Finance Officers from the Philippine Foreign Service Posts in Asia-Pacific, Libya and Brazil participated in the Workshop.

Consul General and Minister Nina Cainglet of the Philippine Embassy in Canberra, Trade Assistant Luningning Smith of the Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Sydney (PTIC-Sydney), and Administrative Officer Ernesto Teston of the Philippine Department of Tourism Office in Sydney (DOT-Sydney) also attended several sessions of the workshop.

The training workshop, thus far, was the biggest in terms of the number of participating Finance Officers. END