Ms. Maria Gracia M. Pulido Tan (Philippines) - Member

Maria Gracia M. Pulido Tan is the first woman Chairperson (equivalent to Auditor-General) of the Philippine Commission on Audit’s 115 year history. Prior to her appointment as Chairperson, Pulido Tan has had over 30 years of experience and international expertise in law, accounting, finance, management and governance.

She is a CPA and lawyer and earned her bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of the Philippines. She obtained her Masters of Law in Taxation at New York University School of Law as a Gerald Wallace Scholar.

She started her career as a tax lawyer and co-founded Tan Venturanza Valdez, a Philippine law firm specializing in tax, corporate and securities laws. In 2002, she began government service as Commissioner of Good Government, where she was in charge of finance and asset management and director of sequestered companies. In 2003, she moved on as Undersecretary of Finance for Revenue Operations. Thereafter, she returned to the private sector and worked as an international consultant in tax reform and administration before being tapped to head the Commission on Audit.

As Chairperson of the Commission, Ms. Tan has introduced various programs and projects to establish the organization as a truly effective, efficient and resolute watchdog of public funds and property. She has earned the reputation of a tough and no-nonsense graft buster. Her brainchild, the Citizen’s Participatory Audit, which engages citizens in the government transparency effort, recently won the “Bright Spots” Award at the London Open Government Partnership Summit in November 2013.

Ms. Tan is currently the External Auditor of both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).