The DAP Center for Governance-Policy Research Office held last August 25 the fourth installment of the Capability Building on Innovative Leadership for Legislative Staff (CBILLS) Program’s Thursday Talks: Webinar Series on Socio-Political and Economic Perspectives, which tackled government restructuring and reform through a webinar titled “Rightsizing the Philippine Bureaucracy.”

The webinar explored the intentions and implications of the proposed National Government Rightsizing Program (NGRP) in enhancing the government’s institutional capacity to perform its mandate and provide better services through speakers from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, the Department of Budget and Management, the University of the Philippines, and IBON Foundation.

Dr. Charlotte Justine Diokno-Sicat of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies presented the Philippine experience in public sector reform and emphasized that rightsizing may result in improved efficiency and delivery of public goods and services if these efforts are grounded on economic principles and are conducted across national government agencies, and considered the changing needs of client citizens.

Atty. Maria Paula B. Domingo of the Department of Budget and Management discussed the salient features of the proposed National Government Rightsizing Program (NGRP) and provided policy recommendations on the challenges encountered in rightsizing efforts introduced in the previous Congress.

Panel discussants Dr. Maria Lourdes G. Rebullida of the University of the Philippines and Jose Enrique A. Africa of IBON Foundation both shared their insights and analyses on the scope and potential impacts of rightsizing efforts in the light of the current Philippine bureaucracy and offered policy recommendations that would ultimately enhance government capacity in fulfilling agencies’ respective mandates and effectively addressing citizens’ needs.

(From top-left, clockwise: PIDS Research Fellow Dr. Justine Diokno Sicat, DBM-SPIB Director Atty. Maria Paula B. Domingo, IBON Foundation Executive Director Mr. Jose Enrique A. Africa, and UP Diliman Professorial Lecturer Dr. Maria Lourdes G. Rebullida)

The livestream of this event can be accessed through the Policy Research Office Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/DAPCFGPRO.