President Marcos issues EO to streamline performance management

CEBU, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos has issued an order seeking to streamline the government performance management and incentives system and align it with ease of doing business initiatives and international standards.

Executive Order (EO) 61 aims to harmonize the Results-Based Performance Management System (RBPMS) and Performance-Based Incentive (PBI) System in government.

“The implementation of AO No. 25 (s. 2011) and EO No. 80 (s. 2012), and all other relevant issuances related thereto, is hereby suspended immediately pending review of the RBPMS and PBI System,” based on the order, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on June 3 and released by Malacañang on Saturday.

Administrative Order 25 issued in 2011 established a unified and integrated RBPMS across all departments and agencies within the Executive branch of government.

On the other hand, EO 80, issued in 2012 as amended by EO 201 in 2016), adopted a PBI System, consisting of Productivity Enhancement Incentive (PEI) and the Performance-Based Bonus, to motivate higher performance and exact greater accountability in the public sector and ensure accomplishment of government commitments and targets.

“It is imperative to streamline, align and harmonize the RBPMS and PBI System with ease of doing business initiatives, and reform the government performance evaluation process and incentives system towards a more responsive, efficient, agile and competent bureaucracy,” EO 61 said.

Malacañang said the RBPMS and PBI System “have been duplicative” and “redundant” with the internal and external performance audit and evaluation systems of the government, and lacked a review mechanism leading to the accumulation of rules, regulations, and issuances from the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Harmonization of National Government Performance Monitoring, Information and Reporting Systems.

“It makes compliance burdensome, bureaucratic, laborious and time consuming for government agencies,” the Presidential Communications Office said in a statement on Saturday.

Under EO 61, a Technical Working Group (TWG) will be formed to study and review the RBPMS and PBI System.

The budget secretary will serve as chair of the TWG and the executive secretary as co-chair. Its members will include the secretaries of finance and the National Economic and Development Authority and the  director general of the Anti Red-Tape Authority.

Based on EO 61, the TWG shall integrate, streamline and align the new government performance management system with the government internal audit program and activities pursuant to Republic Act 3456, as amended by RA 4177, or the “Internal Auditing Act of 1962,” and government quality management systems under AO 161 and EO 605, issued in 2006 and 2007, respectively.

“The TWG shall adopt standards similar to, and at par with, the Quality Management Systems by the International Organization for Standardization, tailored specifically for the public sector, and if appropriate, only for government agencies and instrumentalities providing frontline services,” Marcos' new EO read.

“The new government performance management and incentives systems shall take into consideration the unique nature, needs and requirements of agencies and instrumentalities, and come up with appropriate tiers, groupings or categorizations of agencies and instrumentalities as may be deemed appropriate,” EO 61 said. — (FREEMAN)