House passes Bill to rightsize gov’t, level up delivery of public service

The House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a bill rightsizing the government to improve the delivery of public services, a key priority legislation of President Rodrigo Duterte.

During Wednesday’s session, the lower House has approved House Bill 5707 entitled “An Act rightsizing the national government to improve public service delivery,” with 230 affirmative, six negative and zero abstentions.

According to the policy of the bill, the government is mandated to “minimize, if not eliminate, redundancies, overlaps and duplication in its operations and simplify its rules and regulations, systems and processes.”

The proposal in Congress to rightsize the government was mentioned by the President in his second State of the Nation Address.

The bill would cover all agencies of the executive branch, including departments, bureaus, offices, commissions, boards, councils, and all other entities attached to or under their administrative supervisions; as well as government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs) not covered by Republic Act No. 10149 or the GOCC Governance Act of 2011.

The bill states that it would be optional for the following government agencies to rightsize its organization—the legislature, judiciary, the Constitutional Commissions, the Office of the Ombudsman, and even the Local Government Units (LGUs)—as long as it would be consistent with the Local Government Code.

Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles, principal author of the bill, said his bill aims to improve the delivery of government service delivery by minimizing duplication, as well as improving performance through the rationalization of service delivery and support systems and organization structure and staffing.

“The passage of the bill will further ensure the long-term sustainability of our government service through resource mobilization and cost effective public expenditure management,” Nograles, who chairs the appropriations committee, said.