The Senate is eyeing the passage of a measure proposing the rightsizing of the national government before the 19th Congress adjourns its session in June.

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero said the Chamber will prioritize passing Senate Bill 890 (SB 890) or the Rightsizing National Government Act.

Escudero, who authored and sponsored SB 890, said the chamber is eyeing to speed up the process of interpellation about the measure when the plenary session begins next week.

“We wanted to address most, if not all, of the possible concerns that could be raised on the rightsizing bill during the period of interpellations,” he said.

“Once we get all the submissions from the relevant agencies, we will incorporate these in the substitute bill and use these as the basis of our forthcoming debates next week,” he added.

One particular concern being raised on the rightsizing bill is the possible downsizing of the bureaucracy, which Escudero described as a misconception.

“Rightsizing is about streamlining the bureaucracy. It also means the possible creation of new positions, new offices, upgrading and upscaling personnel to help them fill up much-needed positions and put them on the path toward career advancement,” he pointed out.

'While they are not covered by the rightsizing program, they are enjoined to rightsize their respective offices to improve the overall efficiency of their operations.'

For Escudero, the objective of rightsizing is “about saving money” but being “able to deliver services to the people more efficiently.”

He stated that a substitute bill would be submitted on 3 January, incorporating all the necessary changes and addressing the outstanding issues.

“We have more or less three weeks left before we go on break for the elections, so we need to work fast if we want to have this measure approved this 19th Congress,” Escudero said.

Senate is set to resume its regular session on 13 January and will go on break from 8 February to 1 June for the campaign period of the May 2025 midterm elections.

Sessions will then resume on 2 June and will go on until 13 June when the 19th Congress adjourns sine die.

Escudero noted the rightsizing bill, a priority measure of the Marcos administration, is intended to minimize redundancies, eliminate functions that are teeming with duplications, and simplify rules, regulations, and processes.

Exempted from the rightsizing program are the legislature, judiciary, constitutional commissions, the Office of the Ombudsman, local government units, and military and uniformed personnel, as well as teaching-related positions in the education sector.

'Rightsizing is about streamlining the bureaucracy. It also means the possible creation of new positions, new offices, upgrading and upscaling personnel to help them fill up much-needed positions and put them on the path toward career advancement,' he pointed out.

“While they are not covered by the rightsizing program, they are enjoined to rightsize their respective offices to improve the overall efficiency of their operations,” Escudero explained.

The House of Representatives approved its rightsizing bill in March of 2023.

Once the Senate passes its version of the measure, the bicameral conference committee meetings will immediately follow “to thresh out the conflicting provisions of their respective bills.”

Meanwhile, the rightsizing of the government bureaucracy should enhance the delivery of quality public service, said Domingo Alidon, national president of the Department of Education-National Employees Union (DepEd-NEU).

He was responding to the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) proposal to streamline government offices with overlapping functions, estimating a savings of P8.7 billion.

However, Escudero noted that savings would only be realized after the government spends billions on early retirement packages.