MANILA (UPDATE) — A lawmaker supports the new administration's plan to streamline the bureaucracy but urges caution because rightsizing efforts may displace government workers.

According to Marikina City Second District Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo, trimming the bureaucracy must be studied thoroughly.

"Kailangan natin hanapin ang tamang bilang ng manpower sa mga ahensiya natin, pero not necessarily, sa tingin ko na magbabawas ka sa lahat," she told TeleRadyo Monday.

(We need to find the right number of manpower for our agencies, but I think it's not necessary to reduce personnel in all agencies.)

"Rightsizing as opposed to downsizing," she added.

Quimbo proposed creating a technical working group to oversee the planned "rightsizing" of agencies.

"Hindi tayo puwedeng padalos-dalos dito dahil ang maapektuhan ay trabaho," she said.

(We cannot act haphazardly because jobs will be affected.)

• 'Rightsizing': DBM backs proposal to merge, restructure overlapping gov't agencies

The lawmaker noted that rightsizing the bureaucracy was nothing new.

In 2011, a commission was created to study government-owned and controlled corporations that could be streamlined, reorganized, merged, privatized or abolished.

Eleven years later, only 4 of 118 GOCCs have been rightsized, Quimbo said.

Though some agencies may lose personnel in the proposed rightsizing, the lawmaker said some sectors such as health may have increased manpower.

"At the end of the day, para sa taxpayers talaga ito," Quimbo said. "Marami sa ating taxpayers na talagang nagrereklamo na hindi nila nakukuha 'yung dekalidad na service."

(This is really for the taxpayers. Many of our taxpayers complain that they do not get quality service.)

• Gov't workers wary of losing jobs in 'rightsizing'

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Elderly government employees in "outdated" positions can be offered early retirement while those who are still young can be "retooled" so they can be transferred to another position, Quimbo said.

"For positions that are outdated, chances are mga senior na mga nakaupo dyan. Pwede natin either hintaying retirement or alukin ng early retirement," she told ANC's Headstart on Tuesday.

(For positions that are outdated, chances are the workers are elderly. We can wait for their retirement or offer them early retirement.)

"Pag medyo bata pa sa obsolete position, pwede natin alukin ng retooling program. Rightsizing is really putting the necessary safety nets so we don’t displace workers."

(If someone who's young is in an obsolete position, we can offer them a retooling program.)

The right number of staff can be determined by the head of the agency, Quimbo said, citing her experience in the Philippine Competition Commission.

She said the agency was given an "assumed number" of plantilla positions when it was created and the commissioners a year later realized that it wasn't the correct number.

"Mahirap nang humingi ng plantilla positions sa DBM (Department of Budget and Manaagement)," she said.

(It's hard to ask for more plantilla positions from the DBM.)

According to data gathered by the ABS-CBN Investigative and Research Group, there were 1,755,242 career and non-career government officials and employees as of August 2021, based on the latest Inventory of Government Human Resources Report from the Civil Service Commission.

More than 4 percent or 71,635 of the nearly 1.7 million officials were working in 126 GOCCs.

GOCCs include the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Development bank of the Philippines, Government Service Insurance System, Social Security System, and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation.

While DBM has yet to identify which agencies and how many personnel will be affected, it said just a mere 5 percent reduction will save the government P14 billion.

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