In addition to an adequate regulatory and institutional framework, the effective supervision of public resources requires the commitment and integrity of those who make up the different supervisory entities. The Superior Audit of the Federation is responsible for supervising public resources of federal origin, which have been transferred to the Federal Entities, Municipalities, Mayor’s Offices of Mexico City, Trusts and Funds; such as the Participations, Likewise the Public Debt of these orders of Government.
In short, the work of the ASF is to monitor in legal detail the exercise of public spending of federal origin. The above not only implies the professionalization and specialization of public servants, but also requires setting the highest standards regarding the integrity of their technical and professional work.
In times of widespread relativism, talking about public integrity is challenging, but we must not give in to confusion or the diminution of ethical principles, sometimes expressed through moral indifference or uncritical subjectivity. But let there be no doubt, ethics and integrity are both essential for the proper functioning of the social agreement that gives harmony and allows the development of communities.
The lack of systematic ethics has consequences of all kinds, beyond individual behavior. In fact, in many of the most emblematic global economic crises (from the great crisis of 1929 to the great real estate recession of 2008, passing through the dot.com bubble), what we find at bottom is the replacement of an ethical business by speculative morality (or immorality), the use of rules and loopholes in the economic system with the maximization of short-term economic benefit, which has ended up severely damaging the entire system.
The ASF recognizes integrity as the central value of its Code of Ethics and one of the pillars of superior oversight, as it is an element that helps build citizen trust in the work carried out by the SAIs. Integrity seeks to strengthen an institution with people who act responsibly, honestly and professionally. People are required who internalize ethical norms and comply with them freely and consciously, because as legal theorists have emphasized throughout history, no norm can depend, for its compliance, on the mere threat of sanction, or is condemned to be a dead letter.
At the international level, INTOSAI also gives high importance to public integrity through the ISSAI 30 standard, which states that the Codes of Ethics for SAIs are an international standard that helps guide SAIs in their work and generates citizen trust. regarding the work done.
In the same sense, in Latin America, the OLACEFS and the OCCEFS have promoted the “Integrity Self-Assessment Workshops”, with the purpose of having precise diagnoses on the subject in each SAI.
Internally, the ASF’s integrity policy has been based on both the standards of national regulations from the Constitution to the General Laws, as well as the best international practices in matters of integrity, oversight and government auditing. With this, we have promoted actions such as the establishment of institutional values, the integration of an integrity committee, and a permanent training and dissemination strategy so that the values of public integrity, one of the pillars of trust, are internalized in all officials. citizen in institutions and democracy.
brunodavidpau@yahoo.com.mx