Section 9February 17, 2009, Sec./Art. 9

Articles 81, 82, 83, 84 and 85 of Chapter IX on Audit, Inquiry and Members Right to Examine of the same Code are hereby renumbered and amended to read, as follows:

"ART. 80. Annual Audit. Cooperatives registered under this Code shall be subject to an annual financial, performance and social audit. The financial audit shall be conducted by an external auditor who satisfies all the following qualifications:

"(1) He is independent of the cooperative or any of its subsidiary that he is auditing; and

"(2) He is a member in good standing of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) and is accredited by both the Board and Accountancy and the Authority.

"The social audit shall be conducted by an independent social auditor accredited by the Authority.

"Performance and social audit reports which contain the findings and recommendations of the auditor shall be submitted to the board of directors.

"The Authority, in consultation with the cooperative sector, shall promulgate the rules and standards for the social audit of cooperatives.

"ART. 81. Audit Report. The auditor shall submit to the board of directors and to the audit committee the financial audit report which shall be in accordance with the generally accepted auditing standards for cooperatives as jointly promulgated by the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) and the Authority.

"Thereafter, the board of directors shall present the complete audit report to the general assembly in its next meeting.

"ART. 82. Nonliability for Defamations. The auditor is not liable to any person in an action for defamation based on any act, done, or any statement made by him in good faith in connection with any matter he is authorized or required to do pursuant to this Code.

"ART. 83. Right to Examine. A member shall have the right to examine the records required to be kept by the cooperative under Article 52 of this Code during reasonable hours on business days and he may demand, in writing, for a copy of excerpts from said records without charge except the cost of production.

"Any officer of the cooperative who shall refuse to allow any member of the cooperative to examine and copy excerpts from its records shall be liable to such member for damages and shall be guilty of an offense which shall be punishable under Article 140 of this Code: Provided, That if such refusal is pursuant to a resolution or order of the board of directors, the liability under this article shall be imposed upon the directors who voted for such refusal: Provided, further, That it shall be a defense to any action under this article that the member demanding to examine and copy excerpts from the cooperative records has improperly used any information secured through any prior examination of the records of such cooperative or was not acting in good faith or for a legitimate purpose in making his demand.

"ART. 84. Safety of Records. Every cooperative shall, at its principal office, keep and carefully preserve the records required by this Code to be prepared and maintained. It shall take all necessary precaution to prevent its loss, destruction or falsification."