Employees in the Marcos Jr. administration’s priority sectors, including education and public health services, may even be “upsized” as part of the planned “rightsizing” of the bureaucracy, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said on Thursday.

Pangandaman stated on the radio that “compared to downsizing, which automatically means a reduction in the number of personnel, rightsizing may also mean strengthening the requirements of an agency.”

She stated that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) might suggest to President Marcos the approval of a larger budget and greater staff to enhance or expand an essential government office’s mission.

Although the DBM is about to establish which agencies require additional funding and personnel, Pangandaman stated that preliminary research indicates that the public education and health sectors might be increased.

She stated that these key sectors could sustain job losses from reduced agencies because government personnel displaced by the rightsizing plan will be retooled and retrained for new tasks.

According to Pangandaman, a planned law to be presented to Congress before Marcos’ State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 24 would attempt to “give the President the power to study the bureaucracy, and review the mandate and functions of existing agencies.”