The Mission of controller

Media

Part of Philippine Armed Forces Journal

Title: The Mission of controller
Language: English
Source: Philippine Armed Forces Journal Volume 6 (No. 6) November 1953
Year: 1953
Rights
Fulltext: By Li•ulenent Colon•l ABRAHAM A. ASIS ! "$G4 question" withm the Armf'd Forces of the Philippillu; is its Comptroller. Queries and comments about the AFP Comp: roller rna~· b<! classified good, bad, and iildirfPt'ent. All m a!\, howe1•er they sum up to the question. What is the AFP Comptroller? This question can readily be answered by quoting par 1 of General Staff Circular CD 1-6 dtd 15 June 1951 which provides as follows; ''The Comptroller IS a general staff offiCl<r of the Ch1ef of Staff, General H'endquarters, Armed Forces of the Philippinr~. He formulates, coordinates, and superv!:ses those matters pertaining to the budget and fiscal, m11nagement and program analysis, anc statistical 'lcrvic~s or the Armed Forces or the Philippines." From the above, the AFP Comptroller has th(: general responsibility of bringing about economy and efficiency in the ~rmed Forces His job is to make the Armed Forces perform with the least minimum expenditure and wa£tage of resources commensurate with the greatest maximum l"esults ac. complished. He effects maximum utilization of every peso appropriated for the AFP by the use of prinei1•les of good business management and by exercisin~ effective administration and con. ta·ot of all AFP funds. Such job is called actually in professional jargon "Management Engineerin&''' or "Ma. nagement Controlling." The creation I)( th1s Office has been u long felt need. Yet, it was barCly over two years ago, 22 Feb 1951 to be exact, when it was acti\•ated pursuant to GO 117 of GHQ AFP. With the Armed Forces greatly expa~1ded and developed, receiving approximately one. third of the total appropriation of tht• Republic, the demand -for the application of sound business principles, pr2ctices and procedures for its admillishation and operation, had to be met. Thus, the job of the AFP Comptroller is that of the "Management Engineer'" and it involves however plenty of auditorial work. He makes use of Audi. ling as one of his tools for effective Controllership. The Comptroller, ther&fore should strive incessantly and as$idously to bring about the maximum economy and etriciencv in the Arn1cd Forces. In the accomplishment of his mlu.lon, the Comptroller takes cognizance of the sound pl1ilosophy of Command Responsibility. Thus, with polices and regulations published and disseminated on variOus directives, SOP!!, memo!"anda, and instructions, he helps the t:dmmander on how to cut, lessen or eliminate wastefulness, unwise sprnding and non-productive utilization of persopncl. Accordingly, whether he be a top commander, or frontline commander, he thould be "Comptroller-Consdous" tl'oc other name or synonym for "Eco:.nomy and Efficiency" in the Armed Forces At certain times, hP. calla for confe,·enees on the utilization of those rr. 46 sources. During these coh!erences, he profits•from suggestions on how to be economical and frugal fromeexperiences of the operating levels; and he also listens beneficially on how to spend limited available funds so that every peso t!Xpand~d should bring maximum results, which contribute to the accomplishment of AFP objectives and mi&.:~ions. He alSo conducts inspections and observations, and there on the spot, he may recommend remedies and solutions on problems involving the need and use of AFP resources especially those with financial considerations. It may however be said plainly and clearly, that the Comptroller or his rePresentative is not "nosy" who pokes his nose during course of such inspections and observations. If what is noted is adverse or prejudicial to e.f!ective utilization of resources, he brings them to the Commander concerned who will OC expected to effect needed remedial measures. As for instance, if so much of the food are dumped into the garbage cans; electiric lights are burning where not needed; water faucets are ieaking; technical "know-how" not utilized; government property being used for personal conveniences; motorized vehicles used where the troops can tra.. vel without them; troops i1eing used for cutting grass where a motorizeri lawn-mower can with economy and eXpediency be used; if funds are diverted from programmed expenditures; constructions are projected without proper authorizations; where "Empire Building" has been established; and where Comptroller policieA are not implement. ed; to state a few recurrent wasteful observations, snd all of these he takes note of, but to the CO concerned he takes them for the needed remediea. Hence, it cannot be over.empha&lted that every Commander should not alone be imbued with conscious responsible atticude of good management on the productive use of his funds, equipment, manpower, manhours, facilities and sup. plies, but that his subordlnates as well, Should s.t all times be management. minded. The use of reports, moreover Is indispensable for effective controllership. Chow time fOT soldier.~. A yreat deal of good budget and management work is rtqttired to give military personnel the best food the army can buy. 1e lite The Comptroller, however discriminate.. ly and meticulously determines which report should be randered for he objects to va1·ious types such as overlapping re. port, time-consuming reports; un-analyzed reports which become meaningless; padded reports, etc. Thus, he decrees that status and progress reports :;hould be periodically or "upon• demand'' be maintained and rendered. C'ut of the reports, facts are gathered out of which experience factors for determining standards may be established. And such ~>t!lndards are fundamentals of manage. ment controlling-, As an instrument for good manK~e rnent controlling, the Comptroller can. not dispense with the "Team Survey". As such, upon the establishment of his Office, certain personnel surveys have hecn conducted. .In one of those surveys in IUl office with a complement of 20 employees, costing the Anned. Forces P43,790.00 annually, approximAtely oneI, • • . THf MISSION OF THE COMPTROLLER 47 to ie that motUlf appropriated "for food L! spent wisel11 mt.d that no tmnecessnry waste is incu.n·ed is one of the fun!tlons of the AFP Comptroller. third of the positions occupied was eliminated a.s a result \hereof, thus causing an annual savings of abotlt r1s,. 000.00. The remaining posit!QnS manned by the more efficient personnel, and tht1 rest discharged, proved very productive and merited increases in their salaries and wages a few months after the implementation of the reeommendati~n of the Team Survey. On the over-all surveys of offices being conducted, it is estimated that no less than 80% (Pl,449.600.00) of the greatly increased appropriations of P4,832,001.00 for civilian personnel, might be saved. This of course, would be effected without prejudicing or adversely affecting the efficiency of the Armed Forces. In the performance of his duties ~:~.nd responsibilities, the Comptroller has a Deputy, an Administrative Officer, and the three technical groups, namely: Budget and Fiscal; Statistieal Services; and Management and Program An. alysis. Thf Finance Service and the Auditor and Fiscal In!ipector'e Office, as well a the Accounting Offices for GHQ and the various services, serve as his operating levels. With the Finan.ce Service which writes the checks, he l<eeps an eagle eye but with the Auditor and Fiscal Inspector, he extends his controllership rauch more keenly an~ meticulously. He allows no compromise on illegal spend.in~ of public funds and for those suspected or alleged to have committed acts of malversation of public funds, he causes the full force of .. .,. the law applied, On his preparation and management of the budget, the Comptroller appeQrS mostly occupied. This is due principally to the fact that heretofore, no systematic management had been made on it. Progr:1mming of expenditures and the corr2sponding check-ups needed on the status of such expenditures were, unknown in the past. With budgetary allocation very limited and the tempo of operations against the dissident elements stepped-up, budgetary management is made doubly difficult. For instance, additional units had to be activated as in the case of the Cavalry Squadron and the Dog Platoon, with funds to be set aside for them. To cause for the. availability of funds for those units were not made possible without cxtr('me consideration and study. Other proLlems iuvolving budgetary management are no less taxing the energy and tenacity of the Comptroller. Instances are not uncommon that activities are to be financially supported which oftentimes are the results of impulse and expediency, Then too, there a1·e tho11e obligations of the AFP that are without budgetary allocations, but which are payable out of savings from the AFP budget. Moreover, he has to operate with accounting and audi. ting systems rather regarded antiquated; and la11t but not 1011st, the AFP budgetary system itself is very much in need of improvements and adjustments tC' modern trends on budgetary nomenc:lature and prccedure. Indeed, the Comptroller of the AFP ia handicapped iu wcildina- a much more effective m~ nagement, because of such conditions 48 F:cui'On!!J und full utrlr~attQtl <>/ •rll rneu, muttr~al and equipmenr (lrf tht hy-u.·urd "' On~ /,u.~y hul• at AFP yenerttl heodquurUrq which is the oj{ice of the CNilJ .... t.··JIIt-r. !''ldtr Lteutt>!ttnt Co/onf'/ .')'"'""" Valde.:. and Clrcumsl~mces obtaining under which he has to manag<". During this pioneering stage of bringIng about improved techniques and more economical means of supporting the operations of the Armed Forces, tht> Comptroller had also noticed seVCII:I.l snags which tend to slow down his progress in the accomplishment of his mission. Primarily, it is noted that the rank and file is greatly lacking in "l'vst consciousn{'ss''. There appears a want()n disregard to determine the cost ex. pended on performance. This is true whether it be a projeet or mission to be accomplished. In other words, th<'re is no checking up on the "profit and loss'effeets" basis, as being done in prtvate business and industry. Yet, the Armed Forces is a huge business concern, having an outlay of almost one hundred fifty-seven million pt:;S(.I, CP156.D44,545.00) for FY 1952-1:.8. The only ditlerence to that of a private buaines. concern, is that it does not op. erate to make pr·ofit. Tt operates to render service and as such, the cost or operation should be controlled accord.lngly to preclude' incurritlg deficit and' cr wasteful expenditures. This is tile cnenc~ of sound business management, without which perd~ion, losses and/or bankruptcy is the result. Concommittant with this factor above, is the apparent indi'fferent atti.tude on public service possessed by fl great r:umbe!.' of both military and civilian personnel. Government employees for the sake of renderifl.g unselfish, cons.. tr'uctive and patriotic service appea~· wanting in substance and results. Verily, ther(! is a compelling need for a re-orien•ation training for those whtl must serve the Armed Forces, nay the Govemment. The full utilizat.ion of skills, efforts, rnanhours, are not made; it is "short..changed''. It is observed lhat this attitude is a carry-over from sevel'al d~>cades. Together with this prejudicial attitude, there is a manifest ignorance qn the p':"ocedul'eS nPeded r\ . • ' . Tlf.f MISSION OF TlfE COMPTROLLER 49 for effettive otilization of per~ 1ndeed, should 1the AFP resources be sonnel which must be corrected. For given more care- and caution on• their ln11tance, hiring of •mployees should not uses so that wasteful and ip.e{flcient be by hofluence or any other extran. utilization should be minimized if not eous factor. The right man should ~ prevented. In short. the concern of placed in the right job; and the full every individual in the Military service, utilization of employE:es with written should be the development of the most down set of duties and responsibilities ertectivc fighting force capable of warshould be made. To assu\-e the Comp- ding oCf extents! aggression and maintroller certain degrees of success in taining Internal peace. bringing about more productiveness of personnel, defini\.e improvements should On these fronts therefore, no on(' take place. ~~~l~n~!fo;~ :~e ~i:~::.ge:as':t!~. "::d •"' True with the use of maniower is the leakage of the money, manpower mateYutilization of the other resources. Care- ials, equipment and supplies made availlessness resulting in losses of property able to the Armed Forces. Indeed, any law; misuse and/or personal use of gov- per~entage or degree of misuse, was.• emment property should not be tolera- tage and/or leakage of such resources ted; ill-trained, inefficient and waste- Is in effect a weakening of our strength ful personnel should be trained for they on a continuous and sustaining basis. aggravate the non-effedive use of AFP In fAct, it would be regarded A victory resources; and last but not least, those of our enemies. And this of course, who are responsible for planning, or- no one desires, except those who would ganizing, and directing the activities of sabotage and ~nde~mine the stability the various areas and levels of command and security of our freedom and demoin the service heirarehy, should be esp- eratrc institutfon6 ecia\ly trained on the overall manager. ial ;principles. procedures, technique:o;, With everyone takmg pride in an efand functions. ficlent and econt~mlcal organization, it could not be gainsaid that such efficient Such therefore are those formidable organh.ation could exist in the Armed "road blocks" "battlements" and "bar. Forces. That should be everybody's ricade1" that the Contptroller has to goal. The taxpayers who make it pasrecognize and overcome on the frontiers slble that such efficient organi!.ation of Inefficiency and wastefulness. He exists, ~:~hall be more than gratified with should take steps to cause their elimi- the knowledge that every tax money r.ation and eradiCation. He should they pay for national defense and SO· cau5e every individual in the Armed curity, is wisely and productively exForces to take upon himself not alone pended. This would mean more symbecause it is patriotic to do so, but be- pathetic and liberal support from them cause It is pure and simple, common and through their representative~ In sense to "'reduce the cost of operation Congt'I!SS, tho! welfare of the Armed without jeopardizing or prejudicing the Forces shall be regarded with greater effective accomplishment of his work or solicitude and consideration. For afmisslon. ter all, the Armed Forces belongs to the nation, and its contiuued developWith the Filipino soldier by birth and ment and progres!liveness shall greaUy race, 11. frugal man the Comptro,ler che- depend on the amount of aupport., lo.. rishea the confidence that his Job in yalty, and r('spect it can receive frOm bringing about econom)' and effltieney the people. in the Armed Forces should not be as hard aa it appears. Indeed, the elimi. And these could largely be gained nation of waate aa an obv.ous way to by >;;ausing every individual in· the mihelp reduce CCista of operation should Utary service perform his duties and be a motivating force for everyone to reaponaibilitiea economically and effido his share on this matter. Much more ciently.