DBM expects rightsizing law by Q1

BUDGET Secretary Amenah Pangandaman is expecting the National Government Rightsizing Program (NGRP) bill to become law by the first quarter of this year.

“It has already passed in the House of Representatives, and then in the Senate, we already have a sponsor, Senator Joel Villanueva, who filed it,” Pangandaman said in a media interview at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay on Wednesday.

“So, we expect that when they resume next week, hopefully within the next couple of months, we will be able to conduct a hearing,” Pangandaman said.

Pangandaman expected the bill’s ratification last year but acknowledged that its adoption could be delayed due to other priority measures of the Marcos administration.

In November 2022, a House panel approved a proposal on rightsizing the bureaucracy for a lean, efficient and responsive government workforce, which was cited by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his first State of the Nation Address as one of his legislative priorities.

The House Committee on Government Reorganization led by Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores has approved the unnumbered substitute bill that aims to remove redundancy in functions or those agencies being obsolete.

Earlier, Pangandaman said the proposal for rightsizing would determine which among the 187 government agencies and government-owned and -controlled corporations with about 2 million personnel might be streamlined through merging, restructuring or abolition.

Earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader Emmanuel Joel Villanueva filed Senate Bill (SB) 2502 to improve the efficiency of government operations and enhance the delivery of public services.

According to the Staffing Summary from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the total number of permanent positions for 2024 exceeds 1.979 million. Among these are the 1.810 million positions (91.46 percent) occupied, leaving 169,136 positions (8.54 percent) vacant.

While approximately one in 10 authorized positions remains unfilled, information from the Civil Service Commission reveals that the government has engaged 832,812 nonpermanent government workers under Job Order or Contract of Service status as of June 30, 2023.

Pangandaman also expected a first-quarter adoption of a new procurement bill, which was approved in the House of Representatives last December.

“A hearing has been conducted in the Senate as well, and Senator Sonny Angara is our sponsor here. So, hopefully, it will be passed. We hope it will be passed in this quarter,” she said.

The amendments will help address difficulties in the procurement of programs and projects, which have been identified as the causes of delays in government spending.

P12B for Comelec clarified

Pangandaman clarified that the additional P12 billion budget allocated by Congress during last year’s bicameral conference committee will not be solely utilized to finance the proposed Charter change via people’s initiative.

“It is not intended specifically or solely to fund the proposed charter change,” Pangandaman said.

“An additional P12 billion was allocated by Congress to the Commission on Elections (Comelec). This is lodged under the regular operations line item of the agency. It is not for the purpose of Charter Change but may be used for various activities of the poll body, such as the preparation of national and local elections, overseas absentee voting, continuing registration, recall, special elections, referenda, and other initiatives,” Pangandaman added.

But the Budget chief mentioned that the bicameral conference committee included the P12- billion allocation in response to Comelec’s request.

“They have the discretion to use the said amount for a plebiscite if the government decides to pursue any change or if the people’s initiative pushes through,” Pangandaman said.

In the 2024 National Expenditure Program (NEP), the DBM initially allocated a budget of P2 billion for the poll body, which is P17.4 billion less than the commission’s initial proposal of P19.4 billion.

After the Comelec appealed to have their budget reinstated during budget hearings, the bicameral conference committee approved P14 billion.

This represents an increase of P12 billion from Comelec’s initial P2 billion budget proposal, although it still falls short of the amount originally requested.

The remaining P5.4 billion was included in unprogrammed funds for future financing.