The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) conducted the online Property Officers’ Course (POC) from 15-19 March 2021; 33 personnel of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) participated in and completed the Course.
The POC is designed for DFA personnel assigned and/or identified to assume the duties and responsibilities of a Property Officer in the Home Office or at Foreign Service Posts. It aims to familiarize and equip the Property Officers with the general rules and regulations, along with the peculiarities of the government property and supply management system and procurement procedures.
Seventeen (17) of the participants were from the Department’s Consular Offices in Angeles, Antipolo, Butuan, Cagayan, Cebu, Cotabato, Lipa, Lucena, San Nicolas, Malolos, NCR South (Alabang), NCR Northeast (Alimall), and Tuguegarao.
The government’s properties and supplies are assets that should be managed properly. Good property management helps the government, as asset owner, maintain, if not increase, the value of the property and enables government offices to optimize their inventory of supplies: to neither over-stock nor experience a shortage, but have enough supplies whenever they are needed.
The POC’s Resource Persons introduced the participants to the structure of the Office of Assets Management and Support Services and the functions and responsibilities of a Property Officer in the Home Office and at Posts; discussed the key provisions of regulations on procurement, and explained the different control measures, systems, and operations in place, particularly the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS).
The inclusion of discussions on material culture highlighted this year’s POC. Ms. Corazon S. Alvina, Executive Director of the Museo ng Kaalamang Katutubo, discussed material culture as part of Filipino cultural identity and the proper conservation of arts and various artifacts in the Home Office and at Posts.
The Course also employed live and interactive question-and-answer between the Resource Persons and Course participants.
A Property Officer’s role is to manage, oversee, account for, and maintain government properties (movable and immovable), equipment, and supplies. Aside from the ability to understand, control, and perform complex procedures, he or she is expected to preserve the value of assets that belong to the government by reporting and coordinating with concerned officers and personnel on the repair, maintenance, and disposal of properties.
