Senators pressed the green light button to empower President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to scale down agencies under the executive branch and efficiently deliver services to the people.
With 22 senators voting in the affirmative, zero negative vote, and no abstention, Senate Bill No. (SBN) 890, or the Government Optimization Act, was approved on third and final reading.
Senate President Chiz Escudero was the principal author of the bill, which was originally titled Rightsizing the National Government Act of 2022.
Considered to be the administration’s priority measure, the optimization bill is intended to minimize redundancies, eliminate redundant functions, and simplify rules, regulations, and processes.
“Rightsizing is about streamlining the bureaucracy, which also means the possible creation of new positions, new offices, upgrading, upskilling, and upscaling personnel.”
Escudero downplayed the possible lay-offs or dislocation of government employees, saying rightsizing is about streamlining the bureaucracy, which also means the possible creation of new positions, new offices, upgrading, upskilling, and upscaling personnel to help them fill up much-needed positions and put them on the path toward career advancement.
He said the objective of rightsizing is not about saving money but being able to deliver services to the people more efficiently.
The bill authorizes the President to optimize the operations of the different agencies in the Executive Branch under the Government Optimization Program (GOP) to, among others, strengthen the functions of the agency that directly contribute to the targeted ultimate societal outcomes of the national government and/or the targeted sector or sub-sector outcomes of the agency; scale down, phase out, eliminate, or discontinue functions, programs, projects, or activities that can be better carried out or undertaken by the private sector, or have already been devolved to LGUs consistent with the governing principles provided in this Act; and, transfer or integrate functions from one agency to another which can better perform the same, or split functions of agencies, bureaus, and offices that may be conflicting or multifarious.
A Committee on Optimizing the Executive Branch (COEB) will be created to oversee the implementation of the GOP. It will be composed of the Executive Secretary as chairperson; the Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) as co-chairperson; and the Secretary of Socioeconomic Planning, the Chairperson of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), and the Director-General of the Anti-Red Tape Authority as members.
Covered under SBN 890 are all agencies of the executive branch, including departments, bureaus, offices, commissions, boards, councils, and all other entities attached to or under their administrative supervision, and government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) not covered by Republic Act No. 10149 or the GOCC Governance Act of 2011.
“Exempted from the rightsizing program are the legislature, the judiciary, constitutional commissions, the Office of the Ombudsman, LGUs, and teaching-related positions of the education sector.”
Under the bill, exempted from the rightsizing program are the legislature, the judiciary, constitutional commissions, the Office of the Ombudsman, local government units (LGUs), and teaching-related positions of the education sector.
Also excluded are military and uniformed personnel in the Department of National Defense, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Department of Justice.
The legislature, judiciary, constitutional commissions, and the Office of the Ombudsman may, within their respective authorized appropriations, optimize their respective offices, consistent with the principles and guidelines contained in this Act, and within the parameters of the Unified Position Classification and Compensation System established under Republic Act No. 6758, as amended.
LGUs may also optimize their respective offices, consistent with the governing principles and guidelines contained in this Act and the provisions of Republic Act No. 7160, or the Local Government Code of 1991, as amended, and subject to their financial capability.
The authority given to the President shall end five years after the effectivity of the bill.
