MANILA – Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said Wednesday the department supports the thrust of the Marcos administration for a lean, efficient, and responsive government workforce.
In an interview over DZBB, Pangandaman revealed that a proposal to rightsize the bureaucracy is being polished for submission to Congress before the delivery of the President's State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA).
"Ang overarching objective nito (rightsizing) ay magkaroon ng maliit na burukrasya na agile at responsive sa makabagong panahon. Aayusin po ng programang ito ‘yung mga ahensya na mayroong repetitive functions or overlapping functions (The overarching objective of this rightsizing is to have a small bureaucracy that is agile and responsive to this modern time. This program will fix the agencies that have repetitive functions or overlapping functions)," she said.
Pangandaman said the proposal for rightsizing will determine which among the 187 government agencies and government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) with about 2 million personnel may be streamlined through merging, restructuring, or abolition.
She said that with the proposed rightsizing, the government will be able to save a significant amount of the budget which may be used to fund priority projects, such as building much-needed infrastructure, for social services, programs in the health sector, agriculture, among others.
"Halimbawa po, kung 5 percent po ang maapektuhan ng programa, ang katumbas po nito ay PHP14.8 billion po kada taon na matitipid natin sa ating personnel services (For example, if 5 percent will be affected by this program, this is equivalent to PHP14.8 billion every year that we can save on our personnel services,” she added.
Pangandaman said affected personnel may apply to positions that will be created as an effect of the rightsizing.
She said the government will also provide a retooling program for personnel so they may apply for vacant positions. Those who opt to retire will receive appropriate retirement benefits.
The proposal for rightsizing, however, excludes teaching and teaching-related positions, medical and allied medical positions or those in the health sector, and the military as well as other uniformed personnel. (PR)
