THE government will be able to save billions if it implements rightsizing, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) which is pushing for Senate Bill Number 890, or the “Rightsizing the National Government Act of 2022”.
During the consultative meeting led by Senate President Francis Escudero on Tuesday, Jan. 7, DBM Undersecretary Wilford Wong said if 3 percent is rightsized, P3 billion will be saved.
Wong said they will submit a report to the Senate which will include the agencies that are not attuned to time or redundant.
According to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, the function of the Optical Media Board (OMB), for example, is already questionable.
“With all due respect to the OMB, ‘yung OMB nanghuhuli ng CD pero alam naman natin wala nang gumagamit ng CD. Puro YouTube na ngayon,” Gatchalian said.
Escudero, for his part, mentioned the employees of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
“Halos lahat ng trabaho ng NAIA ginagawa na ng privatized entity,” Escudero said. “When we privatized it there was no plan of DOTr to get people there and transfer.”
“All of these departments receive 300 million, 400 million and during budget deliberations nakikita ko tendency pinipilit ng department to make project to justify their existence,” Gatchalian said.
Wong said the Senate bill gives the President the power to abolish agencies without repealing the law that created them. He can also transfer employees to a new agency.
Escudero, meanwhile, questioned the exemption from the bill of teaching and teaching-related positions in elementary, secondary, technical vocation and state universities, as well as military and uniformed personnel because many of them supposedly do not perform their function such as soldiers who only guard gates of military camps.
“Kaya nga tinataas ang sweldo nila tapos ang ginagawa tagataas ng barikada sa gate ng Camp Aguinaldo. Huwag naman ganun,” Escudero said. “Yung pulis ang trabaho ay pulis dapat at hindi alalay at secretary ng anumang opisina.”
In the education sector, Escudero pointed out that principals are still classified under the teaching position when they no longer teach.
“Counted pa rin na teaching item ang principal but they are not teaching anymore. Again disservice ito,” Escudero said. (ABS-CBN News)
