First of two partsResize: to alter the size of something, especially a computer window or image;Downsize: to make something smaller; make a company or organization smaller by shedding staff;Reinvent: change something so much that it appears to be entirely new;Rethink: to think again about something, such as a policy or course of action.–New Oxford Dictionary of EnglishFirst wordI DID not draw the conclusion myself from my own research and cogitation. My source authority is Mr. Peter Drucker, the preeminent management thinker of our time, according to Harvard Business Review, and professor of business and management who has authored the most influential books on business and management. My source authority is Mr. Peter Drucker, the preeminent management thinker of our time, according to Harvard Business Review, and professor of business and management who has authored the most influential books on business and management.Drucker made the comment on management in government in an essay, 'Reinventing Government,' in his book 'Managing in a Time of Great Change' (Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, 1995).In the essay, he surveys broadly the efforts of chief executives and presidents of both companies and government ministers to transform government during their tenure and their comparative success or failure in the management of change.Rightsizing governmentThe attempt of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to effect change in our government upon his accession to office in 2022 falls within this scope of inquiry and should be weighed in a similar light.He described rightsizing as 'a reform mechanism that seeks to enhance the government's institutional capacity to perform its mandate and to provide better services while ensuring optimal and efficient use of resources.''Compared to previous government reorganization efforts, the NGRP will entail a comprehensive strategic review of the functions, operations, organization, systems, and processes of the different agencies, and massive and transformational initiatives in agencies concerned, such as mergers, consolidation, splitting, transfer and even the abolition of some offices,' Marcos said.'The rightsizing efforts will also involve the conduct of a comprehensive strategic review of functions, programs, and projects that will cut across various agencies.'In response to the president's State of the Nation Address (SONA) pronouncement, several bills on rightsizing were filed in Congress.On March 14, 2022, the House of Representatives passed on third and final reading of a bill that would allow the president to rightsize the government bureaucracy.Under House Bill 7240, or the proposed Act Rightsizing the National Government, rightsizing is defined as 'the process of analyzing and designing the appropriate roles, mandates, structures, functions, sizes, systems, as well as processes of government agencies to ensure effective, responsive, and efficient service delivery.'The measure authorizes the president to right-size the executive branch to eliminate redundant, duplicate and overlapping functions.To oversee the program's implementation, a committee on rightsizing the executive branch is to be established.At the time of writing, three bills on the government reorganization filed in the Senate were pending at the committee level.Since assuming office in June 2022, President Marcos has abolished several government agencies through executive orders in line with the rightsizing objective, such as the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) and Office of the Cabinet Secretary.Now in the new year 2025, there is a question whether the passage of the General Appropriations Act of 2025 should also be critiqued according to the objective of rightsizing the government.The new budget is P6 trillion and contains an allotment of over a billion pesos for the pork barrel of congressmen and senators, which in itself is a sizable increase from the previous year's budget.No one, not even the Presidential Communications Office, has dared to present the budget as a model of rightsizing. Only the legislators and the cabinet secretaries are cheering the signing of the budget because of what they will reap from it. A large number of citizens are predictably appalled by the humongous budget, which has been called by critics and the opposition as the most corrupt in history. The issue is expected to be raised by the planned mixed rallies of the Iglesia ni Kristo and opposition groups in the coming weeks.Entering the general election on May 12, the national budget and program of rightsizing will be uppermost in voters' minds as proof of a government that has gone out of control.Re-inventing government and downsizing in AmericaIn Peter Drucker's discussion of government management, he raises examples of failures in getting government under control of the Reinventing Government and Contract with America programs in the United States during the 1990s.Drucker wrote: 'Vice President Al Gore's promise to 'reinvent government,' proclaimed with fanfare on the first year of the Bill Clinton administration, produced only a nationwide yawn. (The similar promise in the Republicans' 'Contract with America' initially met with no better response.) There has been no lack of publicity about the Gore initiative since. Press release after press release has announced the reinvention of yet another agency or program: big conferences, one chaired by the president himself, have been convened, and any number of TV appearances made. Yet neither the public nor the media have shown much interest. And last November's election's performance was hardly a vote of confidence in the administration's effort at reinventing government.'To be continued on Jan. 16, 2025yenobserver@gmail.com
