Marcos suspends performance-based incentive system in govt

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has made a significant decision to pause two government systems, the Results-Based Performance Management System (RBPMS) and the Performance-Based Incentive (PBI) System. The reason behind this decision is that these systems were doing the same job as other existing checks and balances in government work, which made them unnecessary.

On June 3, through his Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, President Marcos signed Executive Order (EO) 61. This order stops the use of Administrative Order (AO) 25 and EO 80, along with all other related rules. AO 25 had previously set up a unified RBPMS across all departments and agencies within the executive branch of the government. Meanwhile, EO 80, improved by EO 201, had introduced a PBI System. This system included incentives like the Productivity Enhancement Incentive and the Performance-Based Bonus (PBB) to push for better performance and more responsibility in public service, aiming to make sure government commitments and goals were met.

President Marcos explained that it’s important to make these systems simpler and more aligned with efforts to improve the ease of doing business. He wants to reform how government performance and rewards are managed to make the bureaucracy more responsive, efficient, and capable.

The President pointed out that the existing RBPMS and PBI System were repetitive and unnecessary because they duplicated the work of other internal and external reviews of government performance. He also mentioned that these systems lacked a proper way to check and update their rules, which led to too many unnecessary regulations piling up from the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Harmonization of National Government Performance Monitoring, Information, and Reporting Systems.

To address this, a Technical Working Group (TWG) will be formed to reevaluate the RBPMS and PBI System. This group will be led by the budget secretary and the executive secretary, with members including the secretaries of finance and the National Economic and Development Authority, as well as the director general of the Anti Red-Tape Authority. Their job will be to create a new, streamlined performance management system that works well with the government’s internal audit program and quality management systems, as outlined by various laws and orders.

The new executive order took effect immediately upon its release to the media. This move by President Marcos Jr. is a step towards making government operations more streamlined and effective.