Trimming bureaucratic fat or government rightsizing could start as early as next year once the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the newly enacted Government Optimization Act are completed within the year.

“We intend to have the implementing guidelines and other policies issued within this year, then the Committee on Optimizing the Executive Branch (COEB) will have one year from the issuance of the IRR to do the strategic review and study of the bureaucracy,” Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Assistant Secretary Leonido J. Pulido III told Manila Bulletin on Wednesday, Aug. 27.

Republic Act (RA) No. 12231, or the Government Optimization Act, signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. early this month, created the interagency COEB to oversee the government optimization program (GOP).

The COEB will be composed of the Executive Secretary as chair, the DBM Secretary as co-chair, and the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev) Secretary, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chairperson, the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) Director-General, and a government employee representative as members.

RA 12231 authorizes the President to reorganize the executive branch by merging, streamlining, transferring, or abolishing agencies and functions that overlap or are no longer needed.

“Essentially, all government agencies under the executive branch are covered, except teaching and MUP [military and uniformed personnel] positions and the GOCCs [government-owned and/or -controlled corporations] under the GCG [Governance Commission for GOCCs] jurisdiction,” Pulido said.

The DBM official said specific agencies that may be affected cannot yet be identified, as this will depend on the COEB’s strategic review and study of the bureaucracy.

The Marcos Jr. administration’s economic team, as early as mid-2022, had been pushing for a “lean and efficient” bureaucracy. Back then, economic managers said rightsizing would end the reliance on consultants and contractual or “casual” employees performing repetitive or overlapping functions in the government.

Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman, who also served in the DBM during the Duterte administration, previously pushed for the Rightsizing the National Government Act of 2017, which had failed to pass Congress.

Before the Government Optimization Act, abolishing agencies required Congressional approval, which made rightsizing a long process.

The 2017 rightsizing bill proposed abolishing the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and transferring its functions to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The PCGG is tasked with recovering and disposing of the ill-gotten wealth of Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.’s family and cronies.

Asked if the PCGG may be abolished under the GOP, Pulido replied: “It will depend on the results of the study and recommendation of the COEB.”

“But if the COEB, after careful study, were to determine that its functions are already redundant or obsolete, its abolition or merger with other agencies may be pursued,” Pulido added.

Back in 2022, Pangandaman estimated that removing five percent of redundant government offices and positions could yield ₱14.8 billion in yearly savings in personnel services (PS) budgets, which take up a significant share of the national budget.

For the GOP, Pulido said potential savings cannot yet be determined.

“We also want to do away from citing the initial results of the cost-benefit analysis done by the DBM because the parameters and assumptions used therein would need to be updated,” he said.

Separately, state-run think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) described the law as “a timely and necessary solution to bureaucratic inefficiency in the Philippines.”

“As the five-year GOP will streamline government operations by merging, consolidating, or abolishing redundant government agencies and positions, it is expected to cut waste, reduce overlapping functions, and refocus public service delivery on effectiveness and accountability,” PIDS senior research fellow Adoracion M. Navarro said in a comment last July, before RA 12231 was enacted.

“Since the GOP may also result in the creation of plantilla positions for casual or contractual personnel and job order or contract of service workers who are needed to optimize the functions of government agencies, it is also expected to enhance job security for certain public service workers and make public service delivery more responsive to the needs of citizens,” Navarro said.

She added that by updating the government’s structure to cut costs and make services more transparent and responsive, the GOP would not only save taxpayer money but also improve the performance of public institutions.

Navarro also cited the GOP’s safeguards, including labor representation in the COEB, a time limit on the program, benefits for those who retire or lose their jobs, and exemptions for teachers, MUP, the legislature, judiciary, and constitutional bodies.

For Navarro, the new law “will provide the legal framework for the GOP and authorize national government officials to carry out the optimization of government functions and structures for better coordination, clearer mandates, and faster service delivery.”

RA 12231 consolidated Senate Bill (SB) No. 890 and House Bill (HB) 7240.

After Marcos signed RA 12231, Pangandaman said this landmark law represents a pivotal step toward building a smarter, more agile, and responsive bureaucracy that genuinely serves the Filipino people.

“It has been years in the making, but our goal has always been to ensure that every peso spent, position created, and agency sustained contributes meaningfully to our collective progress,” the DBM chief said. “With the President’s signing of the law, we now take a decisive step forward in realizing that vision.”

She stressed that, above all, the reform aims to maximize impact by streamlining systems to deliver government services to FIlipinos more quickly, efficiently, and with greater accountability.

“To our civil servants, we assure you that your rights, welfare, and career growth remain paramount. Optimization does not mean displacement but better alignment, capacity-building, and maximizing your contributions to nation-building. This is your government at work, transforming not only in structure but in spirit,” Pangandaman said.

(With Ricardo M. Austria)