President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. listed the rightsizing program of the government as number one in his proposed legislation which he enumerated during his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.

As he addressed the nation represented by the members at the House of Representatives in Quezon City on Monday, Marcos called the lawmakers to support and pass these.

First among the 19 proposed measures was the National Government Rightsizing Program (NGRP), "a reform mechanism that seeks to enhance the government’s institutional capacity to perform its mandate and provide better services, while ensuring optimal and efficient use of resources," said Marcos.

"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," he 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," he added.

According to Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman. around 187 government agencies or approximately two million employees may be affected by the rightsizing.

She said the program will help the government save around P14.8 billion per year in personal services.

Also included in the list of Marcos' proposed legislations are Budget Modernization Bill, Valuation Reform Bill, Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (PIFITA), E-Government Act, Internet Transaction Act or E-Commerce Law, Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE), Establishment of a Medical Reserve Corps, and National Disease Prevention Management Authority, Creation of the Virology Institute of the Philippines.

He also proposed measures for a Department of Water Resources , Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension, E-Governance Act, National Land Use Act, National Defense Act, Mandatory Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and National Service Training Program (NSTP), Enactment of an Enabling Law for the Natural Gas Industry, Amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act or EPIRA (Rep. Act No. 9136), and Amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law. Robina Asido/DMS