Rightsizing gov't on top of Marcos' priority bills

MANILA, Philippines — A measure that aims to "rightsize" the government bureaucracy by merging, splitting, transferring and abolishing some of its offices is on the top of the list of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s priority bills.

The national government rightsizing program was the first item cited by President Marcos when he was discussing his legislative wish list during his first State of the Nation Address Monday.

He described the program as a "reform mechanism that seeks to enhance the government’s institutional capacity to perform its mandate and provide better services, while ensuring optimal and efficient use of resources."

"Compared to previous government reorganization efforts, the NGRP (national government rightsizing program) will entail a comprehensive strategic review of the functions, operations, organization, systems and processes of the different agencies, and massive and transformational initiatives in agencies concerned, such as merger, consolidation, splitting, transfer, and abolition of some offices," the president said.

"The rightsizing efforts will also involve the conduct of a comprehensive strategic review of functions, programs and projects that will cut across various agencies," he added.

Earlier this month, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said a proposal to "rightsize" the bureaucracy was being polished for submission to Congress before the SONA.

She said the proposal would determine which among the 187 government agencies and government-owned and -controlled corporations with more or less two million personnel may be streamlined through merging, restructuring or abolition.

The program would allow the government to save a significant amount of the budget which may be used to fund priority projects, she added.

The proposal will not cover teaching and teaching-related positions, medical and allied medical positions or those in the health sector, the military and other uniformed personnel.