CAMARINES Sur 2nd District Rep. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte Jr. is calling on senators to take action on their counterpart measure to the House of Representatives’ bill on government rightsizing when the session resumes on January 22, 2024.
Villafuerte highlights the need for government rightsizing in the Philippines, citing the 2022 data from the Civil Service Commission (CSC) which shows that the country has approximately 1.7 million workers spread across 187 government agencies and government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs). He emphasizes that many of these agencies have overlapping or redundant functions.
“With Personnel Services accounting for almost 30 percent of the national budget annually, rightsizing the government will undoubtedly lead to the appropriate utilization of the state’s financial resources,” Villafuerte explains.
However, it is important to note that certain groups will be exempted from the House-approved plan to rightsize the bureaucracy. Teachers, healthcare providers, soldiers, and other uniformed personnel in state agencies will not be affected by the proposed changes.
The House Bill (HB) 7240, which focuses on national government rightsizing, successfully passed the third and final reading on March 14, 2023. This bill covers all agencies of the executive branch, including departments, bureaus, offices, commissions, boards, councils, and other entities attached to or under their administrative supervision. It also includes GOCCs not covered by the GOCC Governance Act.
However, HB 7240 specifically excludes teaching and teaching-related positions in elementary, secondary, technical-vocational schools, state universities and colleges, and non-chartered tertiary schools. It also exempts medical positions in hospitals and other medical facilities that serve agency clients, as well as military and uniformed personnel in the Department of National Defense, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Transportation, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and Department of Justice.
The bill also states that Congress, the Judiciary, constitutional commissions, and the Office of the Ombudsman may rightsize their offices within their authorized appropriations. It further allows local government units to rightsize their offices “subject to their financial capability.”
Should the bill become law, a Committee on Rightsizing the Executive Branch (CREB) will be established to oversee the implementation of the rightsizing program. The CREB will be chaired by the executive secretary, with the secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) serving as co-chairman. Other members of the committee will include the socioeconomic planning secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority, the chairman of the Civil Service Commission, and the director general of the Anti-Red Tape Authority. The bill specifies that the representatives must be at least the third highest-ranking official of their respective agencies.
In the spirit of transparency and participatory governance, the CREB will consult the concerned agencies, accredited public sector unions, and other stakeholders regarding the implementation of the National Government Rightsizing Program, as stated in the bill.
The bill assigns the CREB with the task of conducting a strategic review and study on the role, mandates, functions, programs, projects, operations, structure, and manpower complement of the different agencies under the Executive Branch.
Within 60 days of approving the review and study, the CREB must submit its recommendations on the updated rightsized organizational structure of the agencies concerned, along with the corresponding executive issuances, to the president.
Furthermore, the bill grants the president the authority to implement organizational actions upon the CREB’s determination that it is in the best interest of the State to create, reorganize, merge, streamline, or abolish agencies and offices.
The bill’s provisions aim to streamline the government, eliminate redundancy, and ensure the efficient use of resources. By right-sizing the bureaucracy, the Philippines can optimize its financial allocation and improve overall governance. It is now up to the senators to take action and move the government rightsizing bill forward for the benefit of the nation.
Source: The Manila Times
