MANILA (UPDATED) — The Senate has approved and ratified the Bicameral Conference Committee Report on the disagreeing provisions of Senate Bill 890 or the Government Optimization Act, and House Bill 7240 or the National Government Rightsizing Act.

The optimization bill, according to the Senate, “is intended to minimize redundancies, eliminate redundant functions, and simplify rules, regulations, and processes.”

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, principal author of the bill, said in his manifestation, “The principle of this bill is simple, the cure for a big government is not to make it smaller but to make it better, more efficient and more responsive. This is the very impetus of this bill. To provide the framework within which the President can ensure that government resources are optimally used. After all, government resources com from the taxpayers’ contributions and these are not an unlimited resource.”

“Moreover, whatever we take from taxpayers’ pockets must be fully rebated to them in the form of efficient and effective programs and projects. This reconciled bill satisfies those requirements,” he added.

Escudero said the reconciled bill designates the President as the Chief Optimizing Officer of the executive branch, and will be assisted by the Committee on Optimizing the Executive Board (COEB).

The President will be empowered to “merge, consolidate, transfer, split, scale down, and abolish agencies and create new ones when necessary.”

“This is no mere downsizing measure. It is about upsizing the number of personnel deployed where they can best serve the people,” Escudero stated.

The House of Representatives also ratified the optimization bill on Wednesday. 

The House bill provides for a three-year timeline to implement the rightsizing program, and for the grant of retirement benefits and separation incentives for personnel who may be affected by the program. -- with a report from Vivienne Gulla, ABS-CBN News