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Sought to restore government integrity and public confidence. Civil Society Organizations (Coos) Became more active in participating in decision-making and program Implementation of the government. Removal of thousands of cell servants from the position replaced through political appointment thus, blurring the merit and fitness of the civil service. President Fidel V. Ramose Praxis of PM (Reengineering the Bureaucracy) The Philippines 2000 (Flagship Program) Envisioned to make the country globally competitive by pursuing the thrusts of deregulation, market liberalizing, and prevarication.
The reengineering plan remained a plan with the Congress not laying down the legal framework for his aspiration of streamlining the bureaucracy President Joseph Eastward Rationalization Program of 2001 through Presidential Committee on Effective Governance (PEG) 165 “Directing the Formulation of an Institutional Strengthening and Streamlining Program for the Executive Branch” Aims to strengthen and streamline the bureaucracy particularly the executive branch, the Cogs, and the State Universities and Colleges (Sucks) Four guiding principles for Rationalization Program: 1.
Efficiency 2. Effectiveness 3. Affordability 4. Accountability President Gloria M. Arroyo Adopted the Re-engineering the Bureaucracy for Better Governance Program of Eastward Administration (EMPTY 2001-2004) DAB and Civil Service pursued the Rationalization Program mandated in E 366. PEG serves as the Ad hoc body that shall be the focal point of Administrative Reforms in the Civil Service. DAB directs all departments/ agencies of the executive government to conduct strategic review of their operations and organizations.
The Rationalization Program The Arroyo administration is pursuing a two-track approach, the administrative and he legislative tracks. In 2003, the administration has already allocated 15 million pesos for early retirement, However, Congress failed to pass a reengineering law. As such, Pres. Arroyo has started her own rationalization law upon assumption into office in 2001. (Ram, 1999) The E No. 366 issued by President Gloria MacDougal Arroyo provides the strategic review of operations and organizations under the Executive Branch, and options and incentives for affected government employees.
E 366 directs all agencies under the Executive branch to submit a strategic review f operations of organizations and attached agencies. The rationalization Plan then will be drafted based on the operations reviews. This Rationalization plan tackles structural reforms aimed to, among others, address shifts in policy directions of the agency, redundant or outdated functions, functions that have been devolved to Lugs, and functions that compete with the private sector. However, according to the Article presented by Alex Brilliants Jar. ND Marcel Fernando on 2008 “After four years of government, 27 Goes/Other government agencies, and only 36 out of more than 100 Cogs in the country have submitted their rationalization plans. Out of the 80 submitted rational plans, only two department-level offices and nine Cogs were approved; three departments have been evaluated but were not approved. Out of the 44 plans (Complete and partial submission) that are under evaluation, eight departments and 19 Cogs have completed their submission while three departments and four from the COGS have made partial submission.
Moreover, there were plans returned for revision; one from the department and four from the Cogs. DAB is expecting submissions from three departments and 24 Cogs. Options for Affected Personnel The cost containment measures focus mainly on reducing personnel size. In the process of reviewing agency operations and organizations, some functions/units may be found redundant, overlapping or duplicating with others. Thereby E No. 366 offers the Voluntary Retirement Scheme. Under this scheme, agencies with redundant functions or those incurring revenue losses for the government are first identified.
These employees then are given two options 1 to remain in government service and be placed in other government agencies needing personnel or (2) Avail of detriment/separation benefits, if qualified, plus the applicable incentives. (Brilliants Jar. And Fernando, 2008) According to Policy Insights of the Philippine Senate Economic Planning Office, “The early retirement package will give an average retirement benefit of close to PH 1 million per beneficiary and will be funded by the national government (PH 15 billion) through SIS$300-million World Bank loan.
According to the Department of Budget and Management, the government will save some PH 7. 7 billion yearly from the reduction in the wage bill thus recouping the PH billion loan in two years. The projected savings is anchored on the assumption that 30,000 employees will avail of the separation/retirement plan. It is interesting to note that the savings is a mere 2. 6 percent of the annual allocation for personnel expenditure. Hence, the fiscal impact is small and may not really address the inefficiency concerns of the bureaucracy. According to the Data taken from DAB in 2008, as of April 2008, 2,170 regular positions (87% or 1,888 funded and 13% or 282 unfunded items) and 1,137 contractual/casual positions (86% of these or 978 untactful items and 14% or 159 casual items) have been abolished, which in effect, generated PH 422 Million (PH 379 Million explicit and PH million implicit). These savings were plowed back to the concerned department agencies to beef up their funds for their purposes like maintenance and other operating expenses and capital outlay.