The Armed Forces and the Performance Budget

Title

Language

English

Source

Philippine Armed Forces Journal Volume VIII (No. 10) October 1955

Year

1955

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

SINCE July 1 of this year, the military arm of the Republic has been placed on a performance budget ba sis as a part of a pattern to bring about “sound business man agement in the government,” to quote President Ramon Magsaysay, where activities are based on programs and projects, and where accomplishments are measured by end-results. Operating Budgets The first requirement, upon the approval of the appropriations of the Armed Forces for the current year, was the breaking up of the same appropriations into operat ing budgets. In the Philippine Army, this refers to a complete budget for each of the major com mands, better known as First Mi litary Area, Second Military Area, Third Military Area, Fourth Mili tary Area, and Philippine Army Training Command. The determination of what should go into an operating bud get, a task never before done in local budgeting practice, proved to be difficult. It meant the ascer tainment first of all of what should be accomplished at the established operating levels. This was not hard to make because all military installations have their respective functions to perform. The estimate of goals made previously was therefore merely distributed to serve as a guide for actual per formance or accomplishment by the organizations concerned. The estimate of the probable ex penses of all programs and pro jects in units where execution of the plan of work had to be made was not as easy as in the assign ment of tasks. First, the entry of personalities was only minimized and could not entirely be avoided as usual; and second, the appro priations to be distributed was in adequate. The general tendency of anyone to get more and more, as in any thing that concerns life, is under standable. The more funds for a program or a project, the better. Accordingly, when distribution plans are not approved, the confer ence method is resorted to in order to thresh out differences of opin ion, have one brass meet another, 33 and have a command decision set tle all, when no common under standing is arrived at. Problems The execution of a performance type budget at operating levels, as we are experiencing it in the Phi lippine Army, has its advantages and disadvantages. & Whereas before, an operating installation was spending and let ting some outside unit do the wor rying for acquisition of funds, the Military Areas and the PATC are forewarned and pegged to what ap pears in their respective operating budgets. Sometimes, the actual re leases may be less depending upon the availability of cash in the Na tional Treasury of the Philippines. The main difficulty involved in operating budgets is the costing and reporting angle. Unit cost which means the complete expense of the government in operating and maintaining a particular in stallation, program or project for any one month is not as easy to make as to say it. Any officer or enlisted man cannot do this job right away. A lot of explanation is needed most of the time. This means delay that sometimes results in timetables being over-shot. Another problem pertains to ciMEASURE OF WORK (BUSINESS MGT ) 1. No. of physical examinations made 2. 11 ” patients treated 5. 11 ” laboratory examinations mate 4. ■■ ” patients admitted 5- v ” patient days o. ” v researches completed 7. ” ” patients evacuated from hospital 8- ” v patient discharged 9. ” " items of supplies recieved ^llsed 10. ” ” operations performed 11. Etc,...Etc....Etc.... 34 vilian personnel. The cause of this problem is that, under perfor mance budgeting, funds can no longer be generated from “main tenance and repair’’ appropria tions by the technical services to support civilian personnel at ma jor commands. Funds for the pur pose of employing laborers, mech anics, etc., are actually budgeted, but the ruling is to the contrary. It is prejudicial to the normal mi litary effort. For this reason a request has been made to the Authemselves. The Philippine Army has prob ably gone ahead of the other ma jor services by publishing work measurements for effective busi ness management as distinguished from those for budgetary purposes on an army-wide scale. With it, all Philippine Army installations at the operating levels are required to record their output day by day, week by week and month by month. There is thus a self-sus taining and self-improving manEXPENSES: PROGRAM 6—TRAINING INCL RESERVE TNG ? RECRUITMENT PROJECT (¿l-TNS OF PROB 2D ITS, CADETS, TRAINEES RESERVES ditor General and the Commission er of the Budget to reconsider the ruling. The request is still pend ing. Innovations “End-results,” which must be related to work goals, and appro priations which must be related to actual expenses, appear not quite understood until now. Even those who used to laugh at the honest efforts of others in the direction are rapidly becoming enthusiasts agement system which no lecturer, or hordes of his kind, can dare challenge as to its effectiveness whether as to efficiency, cost or any other factor. A work simplication program will be embarked upon in the near future by the Philippine Army. It should have been started a long time ago. Many fiscal years have passed without anything being ac complished in this line. The making of basic progress 35 APPROPRIATION, PA MILITARY PERSONNEL P 47,094,530.00 TROOP FACILITIES 5,292,580,00 MEDICAL 8-DENTAL 482,960.00 SUPPLY DISTRIBUTION SERVICES 108,000.00 SERVICE-WIDE 887,620.00 TRAINING 12,445,180.00 GROSS TOTAL 66,310,870.00 REQUIRED 57. RESERVE 3,115,543.00 APPROPRIATION LIMIT p 63,195,326.00 Data are now being gathered to provide a sounder basis for planning more effective control over expenditures under the Performance Budget and for improving services. charts, intended to be a financial as well as a management tool, is another Philippine Army activity that has been initiated. This is being done only at the comptroller level for the time being. In the future, major commands will be required to maintain standard pro gress charts suitable for their re quirements in addition to charts which they may have already de signed. Conclusion Despite the problems being en countered, Performance Budgeting in the Armed Forces in less than a year is well on the road. Data are now being gathered to provide a sounder basis for planning if not for exercising more effective con trol over expenditures. Data are being gathered as a basis for re ducing cost and improving ser vices. Figures are likewise be'ing gathered for a clear and concise statement of services to be provi ded by the government. The effec tive rendition of government ser vices out of the tax-payer’s peso 36 is one of the cardinal goals sought to be attained by means of reliable data now being collected. These data are intended to provide ac curate information on policy-deter mination and control over govern ment services and expenditures by Congress. Finally, the progress in the im plementation of the performance budget in the Armed Forces of the Philippines is generally satisfact ory. Everybody is in the job. Even Secretary of National Defense Sotero B. Cabahug and Budget Com missioner Dominador Aytona are only too willing to help the Armed Forces. , UNITS OF WORK-BUDGET TRAINING PROGRAM Project (a) Training Schools 1. No. OF STUDENTS ENROLLED 2. » « " GRADUATED Project (h) Equipments and supplies 1. TOTAL No. OF STUDENTS ENROLLED [PROJECT(d.) { Qc)J 2. " " " " GRADUATED [ " " " " j Project (c) Tug of Prob 2d Lte.Tnee, ROTS cdte, etc, 1. No. OF STUDENTS ENROLLED 2. « " " ' GRADUATED Project (dlMaint of Oe < EM tn Local foreign Schs, L. No. OF STUDENTS ENROLLED 2. " " " GRADUATED REPORT

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