Blog series
The ALTOS Framework
Ten principles for keeping public money accountable in a Philippine local treasury.
This series takes one principle at a time and explains it in plain words: what the rule is, which law or idea stands behind it, and how it looks on an ordinary working day at the treasury counter. A new principle comes out every Sunday until December 27, 2026, and this page keeps all of them in reading order.
The ten principles came from years of handling collections, disbursements and reports, and from the questions I had to answer while writing ALTOS, my treasury software. None of them needs a computer, though. A treasury that still runs on paper forms and logbooks can follow every one, and each principle comes with a question or a test you can put to your own office.
If you are new to the series, start with the story of why ALTOS exists, then read the principles in order. Each one builds on the ones before it.
4 of 11 parts are out. Next: Principle 4, Every Owner Has a Deadline, on Sunday, November 15, 2026.
Why I Built ALTOS
A treasury system built around one idea: every peso should be accounted for from the moment it arrives to the moment it is reported.
Legality First
Before we ask how a peso was handled, we should ask whether the law allowed it at all.
Every Peso Has a Document
No collection without an accountable form, no release without a voucher. A peso that leaves no paper behind cannot be accounted for.
Every Document Has an Owner
A receipt that belongs to everyone belongs to no one. Every form in custody and every peso in hand needs a named, bonded officer who answers for it.
Every Owner Has a Deadline
A deadline is not paperwork. It sets a limit on how long a mistake or a shortage can stay hidden.
Every Record Has a Seal
Once a record is posted, it can be corrected, but only in the open: with a reason, a name and a trace that anyone can check.
Separate the Hands
No one person should both approve and release public money, or both hold it and record it. Trust in a treasury has to be designed, not assumed.
Keep Money in Its Fund
A peso raised for schools should reach schools. Each peso belongs to the fund the law assigns it, and it should stay there.
The Taxpayer Is a Citizen
Assess fairly, collect conveniently and disclose fully. The person at the counter is not a customer buying a service but a citizen funding a shared project.
Evidence Before Decision
Targets, forecasts and control checks should inform the treasurer's judgment, never replace it. Every number is a prompt for a human decision.
Build to Outlast the Builder
Records, rules and systems must keep working after the person who set them up has left. A reform that leaves with its author was never an institution.
Want to go deeper?
The ten principles also form the closing part of my book, 360° Accountability. You can read its first pages for free, or see what the ALTOS software does for collections and disbursements.
Views here are my own and do not represent any government office.