DBM eyes 'rightsizing' of bureaucracy to save funds

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Wednesday it is planning to ask Congress to give President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. authority to rightsize the bureaucracy in order to save funds.

In a Super Radyo dzBB interview, DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said they will be checking 187 agencies, departments, offices, and bureaus, including government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs)—which employ an estimated two million personnel—for redundant or overlapping functions.

“As of now, wala pa tayong na-identify na mga ahensya na pwede nating tanggalin o ipagsama pero ang total na ahensya na puwede nating isama sa ating pag-aaral ay 187 agencies po ito sa buong gobyerno. Kasama din dito ang mga GOCCs (government-owned and controlled corporation) na hindi sakop ng sa GOCC Governance Act,” she said.

(As of now, we have yet to identify agencies that we can remove or merge but this will include a total of 187 agencies in the government. It also includes GOCCs not covered by the GOCC Governance Act.)

“Ang gusto po sana natin ay makapag-prepare ng proposal para sa Kongreso para bigyan ng power ang ating Presidente at ang executive para ma-rightsize o ma-reorganize ang national government na nasa ehekutibo,” she added.

(We want to prepare a proposal for Congress to give the President power to rightsize or reorganize the government agencies.)

The Budget chief said that should 5% of civil servants, for instance, be affected by the rightsizing plan, the government could save roughly P14.8 billion annually on personnel services.

She said the amount could be reallocated to other priority projects such as infrastructure, social services, health, and agriculture.

Pangandaman, who has previously pledged to craft a 2023 budget that will promote broad-based and inclusive economic recovery and growth, said that those who will lose their jobs may apply for new positions that the government may open as part of the rightsizing program.

“‘Yung iba po magbibigay tayo ng tamang..siguro po… programa sa kanila for retooling. Kasama natin dito possibly ang Civil Service Commission. ‘Yung magre-retire, may ibibigay tayo na retirement benefit para sa kanila,” she said.

(Those affected will be provided with retooling programs. The Civil Service Commission will be with us here. Those who will retire will be provided with retirement benefits.)

Marcos' first two executive orders abolished the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission, the Office of the Cabinet Secretary, and the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson.

The chief executive also said he instructed his Cabinet members to streamline their processes as he gave the officials "free hand" in handling the agencies.

Pangandaman earlier said that a proposed P5.2 trillion national budget for 2023 will be submitted to the Congress on August 22, two days before the constitutional deadline.

She said the DBM would maximize the timeline provided by the Constitution “to give way and accommodate for the priority projects of the new Cabinet secretaries.”

Supportive senators

At least three senators, meanwhile, said the rightsizing of the bureaucracy is long overdue.

In a message to reporters, Senator Loren Legarda said she filed a bill seeking the same during the 17th Congress when she chaired the Senate Committee in Finance.

She agreed that "[t]here are government agencies that have functions that overlap or are redundant."

"This makes them ineffective and inefficient, and these also entail unnecessary expenses," she said.

Senator Sonny Angara said "the call to streamline the bureaucracy has been there for some time and is probably overdue."

"I personally would not be averse to delegating the power to the executive particularly the DBM as that is part of its mandate," he said.

Senator Francis Escudero, meanwhile, said rightsizing the government "is the right path to take insofar as the administration is concerned."

"They just have to pour in the time to study which positions are redundant or unnecessary and to make sure that those that may be affected are given proper compensation on top of whatever benefits from GSIS in order to help them get by and start anew amidst these trying economic times," he added.

Senator Joel Villanueva said that while he was in favor of initiatives to increase public service efficiency, there were a few issues that needed to be addressed first.

“First, why is it that roughly 1 out of 10 (or 178,128 out of 1,899,925) authorized positions in the national government remain unfilled? We want to know how these unfilled positions will be filled up...We have been calling the attention of the Executive on this issue since 2016, but unfortunately, this remains unaddressed,” he said.

“Second, why is there a significant number of government workers under Job Order (JO) or Contract of Service (COS) positions in the government, when there are a lot of unfilled positions? Based on data from the Civil Service Commission as of August 2021, there are 100,895 JO and COS positions in the national government and more than 40,000 additional JO/COS positions are in GOCCs and SUCs."

"By addressing these two issues first, the DBM can identify which agencies can be rightsized and this could mean an efficient way of delivering public services in the most economical way," Villanueva said. 

He also said the government should be prepared with its employment generation program.

“The Senate is always ready to work with the Executive department in finding solutions about these issues,” he said. 

Congress' job

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, however, said it should be Congress that should abolish the government entity and not the Executive branch.

"The role of the executive branch is to identify these govt agencies to Congress so that the corresponding relevant bill can be drafted," he said.

"First step is with the executive. But the formal decision to abolish rests with Congress. —with Ted Cordero and Richa Noriega/AOL/KBK/VBL, GMA News