‘Workers’ welfare must be considered in bureaucracy rightsizing’

MANILA, Philippines — While voicing support for streamlining bureaucracy, Sen. Bong Go said such initiative should take into consideration the welfare of affected government employees.

Go made the statement in reaction to a proposal of the Department of Budget and Management to “rightsize” the bureaucracy to eliminate redundancies and overlapping of functions, and help the government save up to P14.8 billion annually.

In its proposal, DBM will decide which of the 187 government agencies and government-owned and controlled corporations may be streamlined through merging, restructuring, or abolition.

The proposal also came after President Marcos signed his first executive order, reorganizing the Office of the President and abolishing the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) and the Office of the Cabinet Secretary.

Acknowledging the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Go reiterated the need to protect the welfare of government employees who may be affected by the rightsizing.

“When it comes to rightsizing, there should be a careful balance between eliminating redundancies and inefficiencies in the bureaucracy in order to provide public service that can help uplift the lives of Filipinos, while at the same time, protecting the welfare of public sector workers,” Go said.

“We must make sure that government workers who may be affected are given proper compensation, due process in accordance with civil service rules and other regulations, and when deemed necessary, alternative employment opportunities to start anew especially amid these trying times,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the lawmaker also emphasized that he would continue pushing for measures aimed at improving the delivery of public services and eradicating corruption.

He recently re-filed his E-governance Bill, which seeks the establishment by the government of an integrated, interconnected, and interoperable information and resource-sharing and communications network spanning the entirety of the national and local government.

The bill also seeks the creation of an internal records management information system, an information database, and digital portals for the delivery of public services.

Given how the digital age has considerably changed the government, the measure likewise pushes for the digitization of paper-based and other traditional modes of workflow for a more efficient and transparent public service.

“My E-governance bill aims to lessen red tape using technology. And we shall continue our fight against corruption, which is the primary cause of wastage of public resources,” he said.

“Overall, let’s study carefully every step we make so we can solve the problem within the government and at the same time protect the livelihood of Filipinos. No one should go hungry, especially in these times,” Go said.