Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. on Sunday said that he supports the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) government rightsizing proposal, but not at the expense of government employees and contractual workers who may face unemployment, retrenchment, and displacement.
If the proposed rightsizing initiative were to be enacted, about 187 government agencies and state-owned corporations would be reorganized to minimize redundancies; it was estimated that the project might see about 2 million job cuts and P14.8 billion in government savings.
Read: https://mb.com.ph/2022/07/13/2-m-job-cuts-seen-in-rightsizing-plan-dbm/
“The plan of the government’s economic managers to introduce a policy that will rationalize the bureaucracy by reorganizing agencies that have overlapping and redundant functions that will make the delivery of public services more efficient and better coordinated is laudable. However, it should not be done at the expense of hardworking government employees whose jobs will be put at risk,” Revilla said on Sunday, July 17.
“It should focus on reshaping and revamping the government to save unnecessary cost brought about by inefficiency, but should not be at the expense of our hardworking public servants who are the backbone of our government. It should always bend towards serving the welfare of the people, and never against it. After all, the heart of all government policies should be guided by the maxim that the welfare of the people is the supreme law,” he continued.
Rightsizing requires the approval of the 19th Congress before its enactment; both Chambers would have to allow the President and the Executive branch to rightsize or reorganize the government.
Meanwhile, Senators Joel Villanueva and Christopher “Bong” Go have similarly expressed support for the rightsizing proposal.
Read: https://mb.com.ph/2022/07/13/senate-ready-to-work-on-rightsizing-govt-agencies-villanueva/
https://mb.com.ph/2022/07/14/bong-go-govt-workers-to-be-affected-by-rightsizing-plans-should-be-compensated/
On the other hand, Senate President Miguel Zubiri and Minority Senator have remained mum on the subject, opting to wait for the DBM’s final projection before voicing their stances.
Read: https://mb.com.ph/2022/07/15/zubiri-senate-to-takcle-marcos-priority-bills-rightsizing-program-in-ledac-meeting/
https://mb.com.ph/2022/07/17/pimentel-senate-minority-to-seek-reasonable-separation-package-for-govt-officials-to-be-affected-by-rightsizing-plans/