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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS:
First Regular Session

2422
HOUSE BILL N

Introduced by Honorable Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco

EXPLANATORY NOTE

There is a need to trim government bureaucracy in order to streamline its operation. Based on the
Department of Budget and Management Staffing Summary, the number of government personnel
has grown from 1,108, 856 in 2005 to 1,244, 931 in 2015 or a growth of 12.27%. For the same
period, the total number of permanent positions in government has increased from 1,150,681 in
2005 to 1,433,186 by 2015, or a growth of 24.55%. The corresponding expenditures have also
ballooned: the actual expenditures of the government for personal services (PS) have expanded
from P295.18 billion in 2005 to P682.62 billion in 2015, or an equivalent of 131.26%.

Studies have shown that the existing governmental organization is bloated and overstaffed, with
redundant offices and overlapping or fragmented or ambiguous functions. The situation calls for
the rightsizing of the bureaucracy to promote effectiveness, efficiency and economy in the delivery
of services to the people. Streamlining the operations of departments/agencies is needed to achieve
the government's goal of maintaining a well-functioning system of governance. There is a need to
rationalize the existing machinery, reconfigure the organization, contain the costs and
expenditures, and streamline operations in order to fulfil the constitutional mandate of the civil
service and maximize the role of the public sector in national development. In short, there is a need
to ‘rightsize’ the government.

Moreover, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has also expressed his desire to abolish redundant or
overlapping functions and to have more one-stop shops set up especially for frontline government
services. Such one-stop services are much appreciated by the public. Speedy processing of
transactions with the government means cutting red tape and opportunities for collecting grease
money.

In view of the foregoing, this bill seeks to provide a Rightsizing Program for the National
Government to create a lean and effective bureaucracy.

HON. LORD ALLAN JAY Q. VELASCO


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI
Quezon City, Metro Manila

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 2q22

Introduced by Honorable LORD ALLAN JAY Q. VELASCO.

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AN ACT
RIGHTSIZING THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT TO
IMPROVE PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

Section 1. Short Title, - This Act shall be known as “National Government
Rightsizing Act”.

Section 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the State to
promote and maintain effectiveness, efficiency and economy in the government, and enhance
institutional capacity to improve public service delivery, and to ensure the attainment of the
country’s societal and economic development goals and objectives. Consistent with this, the
government shall focus its functions and resources on the essential role, scope, and level of

governance, and minimize,

if not eliminate, redundancies, overlaps and duplications in its

operations and simplify its systems and processes.

Section 3. Coverage. - This Act shall cover all national government agencies,

including departments, bureaus, offices, commissions, boards, councils, and all other entities

attached to or under their administrative supervision.

The Legislature, the Judiciary, Constitutional Offices, State Universities and Colleges,
and Local Government Units (LGUs) may, within their respective authorized appropriations,
likewise rightsize their respective offices, consistent with the principles and guidelines

contained in this Act.

The Governance Commission for Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations
shall continue to exercise its authority under Republic Act (RA) No. 10149 to reorganize,
merge, streamline, abolish or privatize any government-owned or -controlled corporation

(GOCC), in consultation with the department or agency to which the GOCC is attached.


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Section 4. Principles and Guidelines. - The National Government shall implement a

a)

b)

d)

e)

f

ing Program in accordance with the following principles and guidelines:

The role of government and the scope, level, and prioritization of government
activities shall be determined in accordance with the Constitutional mandate,
political and socio-economic objectives of the government, and available

resources;

The delineation of responsibilities between the National Government and the
LGUs in the provision, production, and delivery of goods and services shall be
clearly defined:

Government operations shall be simplified so that the departments/agencies
could focus on the performance of their core functions and implementation of
programs and projects that will lead to the attainment of the desired sectoral

and national goals and outcomes:

Government systems and processes shall be simplified to facilitate the delivery
and upgrade the quality of frontline services, as well as to improve policy

formulation, planning and performance evaluation;

Government rules shall be rationalized to reduce the regulatory burden on

citizens, businesses and other stakeholders; and

The organizational structure of agencies shall be rightsized and the appropriate
staffing mix shall be determined based on the skills and competencies required

to effectively and efficiently carry out the agency mandate and functions.

Section 5. Authority of the President of the Philippines to Rightsize the

Operations of the National Government. - Pursuant to the policies, principles and

guidelines stipulated in this Act, the President is hereby granted the following authority in the

rightsizing of the operations of the different departments/agencies of the National

Government:

a)

To undertake the following organizational actions in order to eliminate
functions, programs and projects which are already redundant, no longer

necessary, or those duplicating or overlapping between and among the units


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within the department or with other departments/agencies of the National

Government:

a.1 Abolish, deactivate, group, integrate, merge, consolidate or split national
government agencies, including departments, bureaus, offices,
commissions, boards, councils, and all other entities attached to or under

their administrative supervision;
a.2 Create, establish or regularize offices; and

a3 Transfer offices, functions, programs and projects, and/or the
corresponding appropriations, equipment, properties, records, personnel,

and transactions, from one department/agency to another.

b) To formulate and provide safety nets, including their implementation strategies,
for employees of departments/agencies who may be affected by the

government's rightsizing efforts.

Section 6. Creation of a Committee on Rightsizing the National
Government. - A Committee on Rightsizing the National Government is hereby created to
oversee the implementation of the National Government's Rightsizing Program, in accordance
with the provisions of this Act.

‘The Committee shall be composed of the Executive Secretary as Chairman, and the
Secretary of Budget and Management as Co-Chairman, with the Director-General of the
National Economie and Development Authority, Chairperson of the Civil Service

Commission (CSC), and the Head of the Presidential Management Staff, as members.

The Committee shall be organized within fifteen (15) days from the effectivity of
this Act.

‘The Committee shall also organize a Technical Working Group composed of experts
‘on government operations, organizational development, and human resource management to

assist in the performance of its functions.


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In the spirit of transparency and participatory governance, the Committee shall consult

the departments/agencies concerned and accredited public sector unions relative to the

implementation of the National Government's Rightsizing Program.

Section 7. Powers and Functions of the Committee on Rightsizing the

National Government. - The Committee shall have the following powers and functions:

a)

b)

©)

d)

e)

f)

To develop the policies, framework, strategies and mechanisms to be adopted

in the implementation of the National Government's Rightsizing Program;

To conduct studies on the functions, programs, projects, operations, structure

and manpower complement of the different departments/agencies:

To develop and prepare the rightsized organizational structure of
departments/agencies concerned and the corresponding executive issuances for

approval by the President;

To monitor the implementation by the different departments/agencies of their
respective approved: Rightsizing Plans, and report to the President any issue
that must be addressed;

To commission the conduct of an independent impact assessment on the
National Government's Rightsizing Program after its completion, to determine
the effects of, and gains from, the implementation of the Program, mitigate any

adverse effects, and address areas which still require improvements; and

To formulate the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of this Act.

Section 8. Submission of the Rightsized Organizational Structure and Proposed

Executive Issuances to the President. - The Committee on Rightsizing the National

Government shall submit to the President the rightsized organizational structure of

departments/agencies concerned and the corresponding executive issuances within one (1)

year from the effectivity of the IRR of this Act.

Section 9, Submission of the Detailed Organizational Structure and Staffing to

the DBM. — Department Secretaries/Agency Heads shall prepare and submit to the DBM the

detailed organizational structure and staffing of their respective departments/agencies within

ninety (90) days after the approval of the proposed executive issuances by the President.


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Section 10, Retirement Benefits and Separation Incentives for Personnel Who
May be Affected by the National Government's Rightsizing Program. - The affected
personnel, whether hired on a permanent, temporary, casual or contractual basis and with
appointments attested by the CSC, shall be entitled to retirement benefits and separation

incentives.

10.1 The affected personnel shall be given the option to avail themselves of any of
the following retirement benefits under existing laws, if qualified:

a) Retirement gratuity provided under RA No. 1616 (An Act Further
Amending Section Twelve of Commonwealth Act Numbered One
Hundred Eighty-Six, as Amended, By Prescribing Two Other Modes of
Retirement and for Other Purposes), as amended; or

b) Retirement benefit under RA No. 660 (An Act to Amend Commonwealth
‘Act Numbered One Hundred and Eighty-Six Entitled “An Act to Create
and Establish a Government Service Insurance System, to Provide for its
Administration, and to Appropriate the Necessary Funds Therefor,” and

to Provide Retirement Insurance and for Other Purposes); or

©) Retirement, separation or unemployment benefit provided under RA No.
8291 (An Act Amending Presidential Decree No. 1146, as Amended,
Expanding and Increasing the Coverage and Benefits of the Government
Service Insurance System, Instituting Reforms Therein and for Other

Purposes).

The retirement gratuity benefit of affected personnel who are qualified and
have opted to avail themselves of RA No. 1616 shall be paid by the
Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). The GSIS shall no longer pay
the refund of retirement premiums (both personnel and government shares) of

the affected personnel who will opt to avail of RA No. 1616 benefits.

10.2 In addition to said retirement benefits, the affected personnel who would opt to

retire or be separated shall be entitled to the following applicable separation

incentive

a) % of the actual monthly basic salary for every year of government

service, for those who have rendered less than 11 years of service:


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The affected personnel, if with permanent appointment attested by the CS

b) % of the actual monthly basic salary for every year of government
service, computed starting from the 1* year, for those who have rendered

11 to less than 21 years of service:

c) the actual monthly basic salary for every year of government service,
computed starting from the 1" year, for those who have rendered 21 to
less than 31 years of service; and

d) 1% of the actual monthly basic salary for every year of government
service, computed starting from the 1 year, for those who have rendered

31 years of service and above.

The actual monthly basic salary shall refer to the salary of the affected
personnel within the authorized period of implementation of the Program in
their respective departments/agencies.

A minimum of five (5) years of government service is required in order for an
affected personnel to be entitled to avail of the Program's separation incentives

under Section 10.2 of this Act.

PROVIDE!

: That for the purpose of computing the total amount of separation
incentives that an affected personnel would receive, only his/her government
service up to age 59 and a fraction thereof would be counted. Government
service starting at the age 60 would no longer be subject to the separation
incentives provided herein, without affecting the original incentive factor
determined as applicable based on the actual years of service of the affected
personnel.

PROVIDED FURTHER: That for the purpose of complying with the required
number of years of service under RA No. 8291, the portability scheme under

RA No. 7699 (An Act Instituting Limited Portabi Scheme in the Social

Security Insurance Systems by Totalizing the Workers’ Creditable Services or
Contributions in Each of the Systems) may be applied, subject to existing

policies and guidelines.

', Who will

not opt to retire from the service shall be placed in a manpower pool to be organized and
administered by the CSC. The CSC shall retool the subject affected personnel and deploy

them to agencies which require their qualifications, skills and competencies.


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The number of personnel who will avail of the separation incentives under Section

10.2 of this Act shall in no case exceed the number of positions declared for abolition.

The specific guidelines to carry out the provisions of this Section shall be prescribed in

the IRR of this Act.

Section 11. Other Benefits of Retired/Separated Personnel. - The affected
personnel who retired/separated shall, in addition to the applicable benefits above, be entitled

to the following:

a) Refund of Pag-IBIG Contributions - all affected personnel who are members of
the Pag-IBIG shall be entitled to the refund of their contributions (both
personal and government), pursuant to existing rules and regulations of the

Home Development Mutual Fund; and

b) Commutation of Unused Vacation and Sick Leave Credits - all affected
personnel shall be entitled to the commutation of unused vacation and sick
leave credits in accordance with existing rules and regulations.

Section 12. Period of Availability of the Retirement Benefits and Separation

Incentives. - The retirement benefits and separation incentives provided in this Act shall be

available within sixty (60) days upon approval by the DBM of the detailed rightsized

organizational structure and staffing of departments/agencies concemed.

Section 13. Prohibition on Rehiring of Personnel Retired/Separated from the
Service. - Affected personnel who retired/separated from the service as a result of the
implementation of the National Government's Rightsizing Program shall not be appointed nor

hired as casuals or contractual in any agency of the National Government, including in

GOCCs, for a period of five (5) years, except as teaching staff in a state university or college.

The provision of consultancy services by government personnel who retired or were
separated as a result of the rightsizing efforts shall be governed by Section 7 of RA No. 6713
(Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees).

Section 14, Report to Congress. - The President shall submit a report to Congress on

the results of the Program after the completion of its implementation.


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Section 15. Funding Requirements, - The amount necessary for the initial
implementation of this Act shall be sourced against any applicable appropriation items under
the current General Appropriations Act. Subsequent amount needed to continue the
implementation of the National Government's Rightsizing Program in the National

Government shall be included in the succeeding appropriations.

Section 16, Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Committee on Rightsizing
the National Government shall formulate the necessary IRR within thirty (30) days from the
organization of the Committee. Such rules and regulations shall take effect fifteen (15) days

after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation.

Section 17. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is declared
unconstitutional or invalid, the other provisions not otherwise affected shall remain in full

force and effect.
Section 18. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and
regulations, and other issuances or parts thereof which are inconsistent with this Act are

hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

Section 19. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect take effect fifteen (15) days after

its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,