CEBU CITY — A Cebuano lawmaker is determined to push for developments in the accounting profession by passing a bill that will authorize the Board of Accountancy to monitor their members from illegal practice.

Cebu Rep. Red Durano (Cebu, 5th district) filed on July 13, 2010 House Bill 1381 that seeks to empower the Board of Accountancy to regulate public accountants and set auditing standards.

“The Board before does not have much power over their members. This time, the new bill will give them full responsibility over auditors of publicly-listed companies,” Durano said.

Under the proposed bill, the Board of Accountancy has the power to sue and implement sanctions against erring accountants, whereas under the present Republic Act 9298 or the Revised Accountancy Act of 2004, the Board only functions as an oversight body.

Durano said it should be provided with more tools in its kit of regulatory powers, the ability to impose sanctions in order to ensure compliance, grant of measures of fiscal autonomy to enable it to effectively shield the country from any future accounting and auditing scandals.

“In so doing, we have not only ‘put the license in order’ in so far as the accounting profession is concerned, but we have put in place a mechanism to strengthen investor protection. This will reinvigorate the investments climate as investor confidence sets in and this will propel the economy to higher levels of growth,” Durano said.

The accounting profession in the Philippines has grown tremendously, not only in terms of membership but in scope of activities for the last 47 years since its official recognition through Act No. 3105, the law which created the Board of Accountancy, on March 17, 1923. Since then, several revisions have been passed.

Durano, who used to chair the House Economic Affairs Committee during the 14th Congress bared that what triggered for the passage of House Bill 1381 was “due to the scandals that rocked corporations worldwide, and these scandals brought to front the crucial role by accountants and auditors in curbing corporate abuses.”

According to the lawmaker, the country has had its share of scandals concerning financial institutions such as the BW Resources and educational pre-need companies including Pacific Plans and College Assurance Plans, “which have long defied public trust and confidence due to mismanagement of their respective funds and resources.”

It is also apparent, he said that large sums of money that are spent by unscrupulous businessmen for alleged “kickbacks” to government officials would not go unnoticed if auditors are zealous in the performance of their functions.