Reb of the Philesines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Queen City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
‘Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 8393

Introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.

AN ACT RIGHTSIZING THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
TO IMPROVE PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY

Filipinos want to get the most of their government through effective and efficient
delivery of service. This measure proposes a step towards that direction by
rationalizing the operations of offices from and among various government offices
having related functions, through streamlining of the positions in any government
bureaucracy, will enable the present administration to promote efficiency and cost in
the delivery of public service.

At present, the Philippine government has a total of 186 departments, agencies and
other offices that has around 1.5 million workers. Unsurprisingly, Personnel Services
take almost 30% of the national budget.

In order to execute the aforementioned objective, this bill proposes to give the
President the authority to abolish, create and transfer offices within the National
Government, among others. To oversee the implementation of this measure, a
Committee on Rightsizing the National Government shall be created, which will be
chaired by the Executive Secretary with the Secretary of the DBM as co-chair, and
the NEDA Director-General, Chairperson of the CSC and Head of the Presidential
Management Staff as members.

This bill, which | have also authored in the 17" Congress, is a priority measure of the
President. Its swift passage is earnestly sought.

ei

Luis JUND “LI F, VILLAFUERTE, JR.


Rllofde Pili
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quexon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
‘Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 8393

Introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.

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 a Rightsizing the National
Government 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 objective.
Consistent with this, the government shalll 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 alll other
entities attached to or under their administrative supervision. The Legislature, The
Judicialy, 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 recognize, merge, streamline, abolish or privatized
any government-owned or -controlled corporation (GOCC), in consultation with the
department or agency to which the GOCC is attached.


SECTION 4. Principles and Guidelines. - The National Government shall implement
a Rightsizing Program in accordance with the following principles and guidelines:

a) 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;

b) 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;

c) 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;

d) 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;

e) Government rules shall be rationalized to reduce the regulatory burden on
citizens, businesses and other stakeholders; and

f) 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 Rightsized 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 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

a.3 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 Economic 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.

In the spirit of transparency and participatory governance, the Committee shall
consult the departments/agencies concemed 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) To develop the policies, framework, strategies and mechanisms to be adopted in
the implementation of the National Government's Rightsizing Program;

b) To conduct studies on the functions, programs, projects, operations, structure and
manpower complement of the different departments/agencies;

c) To develop and prepare the rightsized organizational structure of
departments/agencies concerned and the corresponding executive issuances for
approval by the President;

d) 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;

e) To commission the conduct of an independent impact assessment on the National
Government's Rightsizing Program after its completion, to determine any effects of,
and gains from, the implementation of the Program, mitigate any adverse effects,
and address areas which still require improvements; and

f) 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 then approval of the proposed
executive issuances by the President.

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 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 Therefore,” and to Provide Retirement Insurance
and for Other Purposes); or

c) 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 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
incentives:

a) the actual monthly basic salary for every year of government service, for those
who have rendered less than 11 years of 20 service;

b) 1/2 of actual monthly basic salary for every year of government service, computed
starting from the 1st year, for those who have rendered 11 to less than 21 years of
service;


c) 2 of the actual monthly basic salary for every year of government service,
computed starting from the 1st year, for those who have rendered 21 to less than 31
years of service; and

d) 2 1/2 of the actual monthly basic salary for every year of government service,
computed starting from the 1st year, for those who have rendered 31 years of
service and above.

The actual monthly basic salary shalll 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 Program's separation incentives under Section
10.2 of this Act.

PROVIDED: That for the purpose of computing total amount of separation incentives
that an affected personnel would receive, only his/her government service up to the
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 probability scheme under RA No. 7699
(An Act Instituting Limited Portability Scheme in Social Security Insurance Systems
by Totalizing the Workers’ Creditable Services or Contribution in Each of the
Systems) may be applied, subject to existing policies and guidelines.

The affected personnel, if with permanent appointment attested by the CSC, who will
not opt to retire from the service shall be placed in a manpower pool o 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.

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 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 concerned.

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.

SECTION 15. Funding Requirements. - The amount necessary for the
implementation of this Act shall be sourced against any applicable appropriation
items under 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 the
Rightsizing of 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 of provision of this Act is held invalid or
unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity and effectivity of the other
provisions hereof.

SECTION 18. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders, and issuances, or
portions thereof, which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, are hereby
repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

SECTION 19. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,