PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed into law Republic Act No. 12231, or the Government Optimization Act, which improves government operations and ensures more efficient and effective delivery of services to the public.
The President signed the law on August 4, which was published in the Official Gazette on the same day.
The new law, which is part of the legislative priorities of the Marcos administration, stated that the government shall “provide adequate resources to support an organization’s essential role, scope, and level of governance, and minimize, if not eliminate, redundancies, overlaps, and duplications in its operations and simplify its rules and regulations, systems, and processes, while protecting the welfare of civil servants and other government workers.”
It also stated that the agencies to be covered under the law shall be those under the executive branch, such as the departments, bureaus, offices and other entities under a department’s supervision, and government-owned or controlled corporations not covered by RA No. 10149, or the GOCC Governance Act of 2011.
Exempted are the teaching and teaching-related positions in elementary, secondary, technical or vocational schools, state universities and colleges, and non-chartered tertiary schools, and military and uniformed personnel in the departments of National Defense, Interior and Local Government, Transportation, Environment and Natural Resources and Justice.
It added that the legislature, judiciary, constitutional commission and the office of the Ombudsman may, within their respective appropriations, optimize their respective offices consistent with the principles and guidelines under RA 12231.
The Government Optimization Act provides that the President may optimize the operations of the different agencies under the executive branch and strengthen the functions of a government agency that directly contributes to the targeted social outcomes of the national government and the targeted sector.
The President may also scale down, phase out, eliminate or discontinue functions, programs or activities that can be carried out by the private sector or have been devolved to local government units; transfer or integrate functions from one agency to another or split functions of agencies; or create new agencies, offices or positions.
The President may also regularize ad hoc offices whose functions are vital and significant, and abolish or deactivate agencies or units.
The law also provides for the creation of a Committee on Optimizing the Executive Branch (COEB), to be co-chaired by the executive secretary and the secretary of budget and management.
The committee’s functions include conducting studies on the mandates, functions, programs, projects, operations, structures, and manpower complement of different government agencies; and the development and preparation of the optimized organizational structure and overall change management program of these agencies, among others.
The COEB shall also craft the implementing rules and regulations for the implementation of the new law.
RA 12231 also provides for retirement and separation incentives for plantilla government employees who might be affected by the government optimization measures.
It added that those who opt not to retire or separate from the service may occupy vacant positions in the government agency if they are qualified, without any reduction in salary, or to transfer to other departments or government-owned and controlled corporations.
