The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed on third and final reading on Tuesday afternoon, March 14 a measure espousing rightsizing in government, which is a priority of the Marcos administration.

House Bill (HB) No.7240, or the proposed National Government Rightsizing Program, received 292 affirmative votes during nominal voting. Three solons voted in the negative, while there were no abstentions.

Deputy Speaker and Antipolo City 1st district Rep. Roberto Puno, the presiding officer during plenary session Tuesday, announced the passage of HB No.7240 on third reading.

Identified as a priority legislation of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., HB No.7240, provides the “reform mechanism” by which the government’s institutional capacity to deliver services to Filipinos would be improved.

The measure aims to simplify and modernize the government’s systems and processes of public service and to efficiently use its resources through the merging, restructuring, or abolition of agencies that have similar or overlapping mandates.

It gives the President of the Philippines the power to change the organizational structure of the agencies through the proposed Committee on Rightsizing.

The committee will be formed by the Executive Secretary, which will serve as chairman; along with the secretaries of Department of Budget and Management, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA); chairman of the Civil Service Commission (CSC); and director-generalc of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA).