A Celebration of Women™

is elated to Celebrate the Life of this trail blazer, a woman took on a country so to Take Action to bring to the public corruption, misappropriation of funds, deceit and more.  Her brave, selfless actions carried her into the high realms of government, a journey to this level of power and prominence has never been an easy path.

…. this Crusader is definitely a woman that is willing to rise above adversity for the betterment of all.

 

 

 

 

WOMAN of ACTION™

 

 

Heidi Lloce Mendoza

 
 
 
 
 
Heidi Mendoza [Lloce] been born on November 3, 1962 in Tayabas, Quezon.

Child of Agapito, married to C. Lloce Sr., a policeman and Silveria R. Macaraan. Heidi attended East Elementary School and graduated Secondary St.John Bosco Academy.

Heidi holds a BSC Major in Accounting courses taken at the Sacred Heart College as the University of the Philippines studied an MA in Public Administration. She also achieved an MA in National Security Administration at the National Defense College of the Philippines.

Mendoza has served as a public auditor of the Commission on Audit over twenty years. Counselor in governance and anti corruption in the Asian Development Bank, Governance Specialist at Atos Consultancy, counselor herself in Presidential Anti-Graft Commission in the year 2006.
 
Valedictorian

Mendoza graduated valedictorian in her high school class in a private academy in Tayabas and obtained her college degree at Sacred Heart College in Lucena City. Vice Mayor Venerando Rea said Mendoza was often invited as a guest speaker at graduation rites in her hometown. He recalled that the last time he heard her give a graduation message was when she urged the graduating class ‘to be honest in all their dealings in life’.

She left Tayabas after her graduation in the early 1980’s and immediately worked at the Commission on Audit.

She married a college professor in a Manila University. As a wife, Heidi would find herself learning to love her country alongside God and her family. She and her husband would prove to be such big influences on each other’s lives; that when Heidi found herself faced with the evidence of shady dealings within the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the one-time Sanrio Princess found herself gearing up for battle.

They have three children, all college students, according to her sister.

“I remember that when I was young I could not even pay the twenty-peso school contribution in grade school and that I had to pay a ten-centavo daily installment to complete the amount for one school year but that did not keep me from achieving my goals,” Lloce-Mendoza who graduated with honors told her listeners.”

 

 

Became the ‘truth-telling dragon slayer’ of graft and corruption

 

 

“There are honest men and women in the Commission on Audit and in many government agencies. We have to support them so that the environment to keep them honest will be stronger. In life, it is not money, power and fame that matter. Kailangan ng tapang at katapatan (We need courage and integrity.),” Lloce-Mendoza said.

Forsaking a position in government and a cushy job at the Asian Development Bank, Heidi burst into the public’s consciousness during the plea bargain hearings held in Congress, laying out the trail of money that had been stolen from the country’s hardworking soldiers. Armed only with documentation and the truth, Heidi would go up against the country’s monolithic culture of graft and corruption.

And while Heidi’s crusade has earned her the admiration of many, it has come with a heavy price. The former government employee now finds herself traveling with bodyguards in tow, unable to enjoy the normal activities she used to engage in with her husband and three children.

She is recognized by her bravery and loyalty for when she disclosed corruption in the Armed Forces of the Philippines to manipulated Filipino people from the truth. During her standpoint, she served as inspiration to the staff of government to serve the faithful. In a speech at a conference, she said that “not everyone working in government are corrupt, not all government seeks only life and no commitment.”

At first you may wonder why an accountant and auditor could be seen as extraordinary, that is until you meet Heidi Mendoza who grabbed the public’s attention after exposing Filipino General Garcia with formal allegations of plundering, misappropriation of funds, deceit and corruption to the tune of three hundred and three million Pesos and US dollars; involving the Philippine Soldier Pension Fund, the Balikatan Bank, United Nations Fund and the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Fund, as well as a massive fifty million pesos and US dollars that was withdrawn and allegedly paid to General Garcia without being accounted for.

Her plight was made even more public when her boss (the then Commission on Audit) chairman Guillermo Carague, told her to go easy on the investigation filed against Garcia, the public outcry leading to his own resignation.

After severing the AOC for 20 years with a spotless record and going on to formally lodge charges that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) plundered and was involved in a massive corruption cover-up, her investigations and fraud accusations metamorphosized into death threats from these powerful leaders she leveled her findings, in addition to and a wave of public attention, debate, media frenzy and support for Heidi and an outcry against the government.

In 2011, on the back of these investigations she was privileged with the position of heading the COA with the brief by President Benigno Aquino III (son of the late Corazon Aquino- First Female Filipino President) to stamp out corruption, however over a year and half after her position was announced she is still to be officially sworn into the role.

Heidi’s journey to this role of power and prominence has never been an easy path; her and her family receiving constant death threats, temptations of bribery and career limiting outcomes because of her steadfast belief and position, however she has never yielded.

Strengthened by her Christian faith, her family, Church, community President and a nation, rallying behind to help end corruption she continues to fight the battle and crusade she now calls her ‘mission and purpose in life‘.

In many ways Heidi and her humble and shy persona does not truly reveal the extraordinary person she is; however, it is her unyielding crusade to do what is right for the people she serves; to protect them while also putting her and her families lives on the line that separates her from just the ordinary.

Heidi also finds herself saddled with being the “face” of a movement. Earlier this week, she was at the launch of ihearttruth-tellers.org, a blog that purports to further the truth-telling cause.

The site features Heidi’s image prominently in its banner.

But even with all of that weighing heavily on her shoulders, the courageous Heidi has only briefly faltered in the face of the mounting challenges that are quickly overtaking her once normal life.

 
Her strength, she explains, comes from her hope in the Filipino people. Currently, she continues to serve as Commissioner.

 

More About Heidi 

 Why Heidi Mendoza came out with all guns blazing

• Featured at the Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation in Lucena City
  • GOVERNMENT SERVICE
    

 

RELATED EXCERPT – Beating Corruption in Philippines, By Steven Rood
… “A recent book, The Institutional Revolution by Douglas Allen, studies the effect of better measures of performance to explain changes in institutions (such as the military) at the beginning of the industrial era in Britain (roughly 1780 to 1850).

For example, purchase of offices used to be the accepted method of staffing a bureaucracy, but after time, distances, tasks, and talent became more accurately measured then meritocracy could become a viable recruitment strategy. In Allen’s historical account, the “sovereign” using benchmarks and indicators was the Crown. In the current version, Johnston is proposing to “deepen democracy” in order to empower citizens to hold government accountable against objective measurements.” –

 
 
 

A Celebration of Women™

 

Welcomes this crusader of justice with open arms into our global Alumni; as she epitomizes giving the extra in ordinary to become truly extraordinary in what she does for the betterment of others’ lives.

 

 

Brava Heidi!