The House of Committee on Government Reorganization has begun discussions on proposed measures institutionalizing the National Government Rightsizing Program (NGRP).
On Tuesday, Nov. 15, the House panel chaired by Bukidnon 2nd district Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores started to tackle the 16 individual House bills (HB) filed for the purpose.
The proposal for the NGRP is viewed as a priority especially after what President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 25 at Batasang Pambansa Complex.
There, Marcos said government faces the "daunting task...of transforming our government into an agile bureaucracy that is responsive to the needs of the public, provide good and solid data to ensure informed decision-making, as well as allow secure and seamless access to public services".
A key feature of the NGRP bill is the creation of the Rightsizing Committee. It will be chaired by the executive secretary and co-chaired by Department of Budget and Management (DBM) secretary.
Among the functions of the Rightsizing Committee is to develop implementation policies, framework strategies; develop/ prepare rightsized organizational structures and executive orders; formulate mechanisms to safeguard employee welfare; formulate the implementing rules and regulations; and monitor implementation of the program.
During the hearing, DBM Undersecretary Willford Wong underscored that government had been pushing to rightsize or streamline the bureaucracy since 2016.
He guaranteed that, under the NGRP, no government employee shall be forced to retire. Instead, the affected personnel will be offered incentives should he or she opt to retire or separate.
These incentives are retirement benefits under existing laws, separation incentives, refund of Pag-IBIG contributions, and commutation of unused leave credits.
For affected employees who choose to not retire or separate, they may undergo reappointment/ reemployment; apply for new positions in newly created agencies; or undergo retooling/ upskilling.
At the end of the hearing, the Flores panel moved to consolidate the 16 bills. Among these bills were House Bill (HB) No.12, which was authored and filed by House Speaker and Leyte 1st district Martin Romualdez, and Tingog Party-list Reps. Yedda Romualdez and Jude Acidre.
The NGRP is one of the 30 bills in the Common Legislative Agenda (CLA) of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).