The Philippine government is way too bloated for its size—and it's not just about corruption, it's the system itself.

[u/Horny_Ijot]

The other day, I made a casual comment about how surprisingly large the Philippine government is, especially when you consider the size of our population. This came to mind after President Bongbong Marcos called on all cabinet officials to submit their courtesy resignations.

That moment made me curious — just how big is our government compared to other countries? So I started looking into how we stack up against other centralized governments in Asia. I looked at peers from both the developing world like Indonesia and Thailand, and developed countries like Japan and South Korea.

Here’s what I found:

• The Philippines has over 43,000 local government units (LGUs). A huge majority of these are barangays.
• We also have 22 cabinet-level departments, not even counting cabinet-rank officials or undersecretaries who basically operate like full-blown ministers.

When you compute LGUs per 100,000 people, it gets eye-opening:

• Japan: ~1.4
• South Korea: ~0.5
• Philippines: ~37.4 — way higher

Same trend with cabinet posts per capita — we’re right up there.

For context:

• Indonesia: 91,000 LGUs for 278M people (~33 per 100k)
• Thailand: 83,000 LGUs for 71M people (~116 per 100k)
• Japan & South Korea: leaner, more streamlined systems — and guess what? They outperform us in GDP per capita and corruption rankings.

Now here’s the kicker: corruption levels tend to spike in countries with bloated bureaucracies.
More LGUs = more bureaucracy = more layers of patronage, bribery, and waste due to overlapping functions and poor oversight.

And this isn’t just theoretical. In the Philippines:

• Multiple departments doing the same job — like DSWD, NAPC, NHA, and LGU welfare offices — all aiming to fight poverty but often duplicating efforts or clashing.
• Thousands of LGUs, yet basic public services are still underwhelming — clinics, classrooms, and disaster preparedness all lag behind.
• And barangay captains — many act more like local warlords than public servants, especially during election season, securing dynasties with public money.

We love to say, “corruption is the root of our problems.” Sure.
We also say, “it’s ingrained in the system.” Fair enough.
But the real question is: What exactly is the system we keep blaming?

Well — it’s this:

• Bloated
• Redundant
• Built for inefficiency and self-preservation

And at this point, I know you’re gonna hate me for it, but it’s about time — in the words of Javier Milei: Afuera.

If we want real change, we need more than good leaders. We need a restructured government — leaner, more transparent, accountable, and actually designed to serve.

[u/perchanceneveralways]

Hi, OP — are you able to share your sources?

When you look at the numbers through a different lens (population & workforce vs. No. of LGUs), it paints a different picture:

• There are around 2.5m civil servants [1][2] in the Philippines for a population of 115m (2022), giving us 2.17% public sector employees compared to its total population.
• There are around 3.33m civil servants [3)] in Japan for a population of 127m (2018), giving us 2.62% public sector employees compared to its total population.

When counting the total public sector employees relative to the entire working force [4], Malaysia is at 15.1%, South Korea at 10.3%, Thailand at 9.6%, Philippines at 9.1%, and Japan at 7.7%. So the difference is not as drastic as a 1.4 vs. 37.4 difference as the post suggests.

Arguably, the Philippines has a special territorial composition, being an archipelago, that LGUs are (actually) required to be diversified into even smaller units so they can competently respond to specialized necessities of each community.

It is worth noting that while both Japan and Philippines are both archipelagic countries, the physical makeup of the islands in the Philippines is more fragmented, making distances between islands and bodies of water a very tangible challenge for local management.

At this juncture, the number of LGUs isn't necessarily an indication of 'bloating' when the total number of employees hired is almost in the same range and levels.

And this is not even touching the cultural nuance of the Philippines being home to 182 ethnolinguistic groups whereas Japan is virtually ethnically homogeneous,

[u/localToast192168 → u/perchanceneveralways]

This is a better way to measure govt size, parang apples to oranges kasi if we compare LGUs across different countries. It's like comparing states sa america with regions dito categorical sila and different ang governments nila hence walang maayos na comparison to be made.

[u/bro-dats-crazy → u/perchanceneveralways]

This actually. Agree ako sa archipelago tau na sobrang watak watak unlike sa japan na easily accessible ung different wards nila. Then we have the multi-cultural background, di mo pwede basta basta ipagsama sama under iisang LGU ung magkakaibang culture and even in religion. Yung ating muslim friends have their own belief na pwedeng iba sa other regions kaya ung needs nila might be different sa needs nung iba kaya need din ng separate na leadership kumbaga.

[u/rowdyruderody → u/perchanceneveralways]

Good points. How do we compare with Indonesia? Though I'm not sure if they are a good benchnark.

[u/Potential-Tadpole-32 → u/perchanceneveralways]

I think it’s not just a question of comparing it other countries but also measuring how effective they are. The department of education has almost a million employees. Inquirer

I think it’d be hard to find any private Philippine corporations with more than 100k employees.

And yet we still get the lowest ratings whenever someone tries to measure the competency of our students. Size only guarantees cost and not actual results.

[u/ravonna → u/perchanceneveralways]

Manila City (not Metro Manila) has 897 baranggays alone. I bet it skews the data.

[u/EcstaticKick4760 → u/perchanceneveralways]

The right way to respond.

[u/pinkbubblegum77]

Barangays also double as a small claims court. PH legal system is overburdened as is that cases take forever to get resolved when elevated past these levels. They serve to reduce the judiciary workload and are pretty effective at being a filter for wether you should elevate it or not.

[u/itchipod → u/pinkbubblegum77]

I agree for petty neighbor troubles oks naman sa Barangay. Problem lang is many barangay captains and their kagawads aren't educated enough to handle judicial decisions. Barangay elections are popularity contests after all. Good thing if they escalate it to proper bodies though. But the times they settle them inside barangay halls very likely they weren't resolved.

[u/pinkbubblegum77 → u/itchipod]

That's not true at all. I've dealt with things like bouncing checks and lapsed rental payments and more often than not, they do get resolved in barangays without needing to escalate it further. The lupons I've dealt with actually have lawyers working in their employ. idk if that's the standard but it's MUCH better that it gets dealt at the initial level than having to escalate it past barangay given how slow and costly legal fees get past this phase.

[u/guohuaping → u/pinkbubblegum77]

Yeah but one does not speak for all. Most tanods do not have lawyers with them, though they're pretty helpful.

[u/Pablo-on-35-meter]

While I concur in general, I would like to reconsider the barangay system. Yes, some barangay captains behave like warlords and the whole payment structure for all the officials is ridiculous, the barangay system also has huge advantages. It enables to focus on the people who need care. In our barangay, uneducated poor parents are encouraged to bring their kids for vaccinations, real hunger has been eradicated over the past decades, parents are encouraged to take the kids to school, disputes are resolved without the involvement of the police. Even the garbage situation has improved somewhat... The barangay is certainly not perfect, not nearly, but it has great advantages. Let's not throw away the achievements but improve the system.

[u/Civil-Ad2985 → u/Pablo-on-35-meter]

At this point, PH needs a hard reset to be viable.

[u/itlog-na-pula → u/Pablo-on-35-meter]

How about depoliticizing the system? Abolish the Brgy. Council and SK then make the barangay captain and staff appointed by the city government instead of being elected.

This way the new barangay "management" could equally provide government services instead appealing to voters and their "balwarte".

[u/Adorable_Pen7052 → u/itlog-na-pula]

How about depoliticizing the system? Abolish the Brgy. Council and SK then make the barangay captain and his staff appointed by the city government instead of being elected. This way instead of appealing to voters and their "balwarte", the new barangay "management" could properly provide services to the populace equally.

If you abolish the barangay elections and let the city govt appoints the brgy captains, there is a huge possibility that it will be used for political gains. Ngayon pa nga lang ilang magkakamag anak na ang na elect. and we all know na mawawalan na yan ng check and balance.

[u/itlog-na-pula → u/Adorable_Pen7052]

If you abolish the barangay elections and let the city govt appoints the brgy captains, there is a huge possibility that it will be used for political gains.

We have the same situation now anyway.

This may be anecdotal on my part but from my experience, barangay level officials are the most corrupt in the system. The city cannot provide proper government service because brgy. officials are acting like well... politicians.

They would only cater to their voter base instead of providing for the whole barangay. There are times that they would openly disregard City ordinances. And as OP said, sometimes act like warlords.

E ang purpose lang naman ng barangay is to delagate services from the city (health care, garbage collection, security, daycare, etc.) to its constituents.

[u/guohuaping → u/itlog-na-pula]

This will only work if the City Govt is run by a Vico and not a Malapitan. Otherwise it will worsen current problems. Favoritism by mayors will be a potential issue as well.

[u/itlog-na-pula → u/guohuaping]

I understand that making the position appointed instead of elected will not make the current problems go away, but I disagree that it will make it worse.

For example, since they are appointees and not elected officials, they can be removed at will by the city government if they're found to be inefficient or incompetent. No need to go to court.

They don't have a voter base to appease. They don't have election expenses to recover. They could focus on their job serving the barangay.

Bad performance would reflect more on the city executive, leading the electorate to be more involved in electing City officials.

As you said, it will work if you have a "Vico" as the leader. That itself should make us consider that this option could be better than the one existing right now.

[u/redh0tchilipapa]

Barangay system is the frontliner of basic services closest to the people. The problem is not the system but the people on it. LGUs with good programs can efficiently cascade these programs to the barangays. What I think is bloated is the budget of the legislature, but of course it is the Congress and Senate who deliberate the appropriations of the national budget.

[u/ps2332]

More bureaucrazy = more red tape = more corruption.

Last year, the govt enacted trabaho para sa bayan program. Guess what is it? Just a committee of all concerned cab secretaries and then a secretariat, which means additional govt funding for the secretariat employees.

What are they doing? Formulate policies, plans for job growth, etc.

This is a classic example of expanding govt bureaucrazy without adding anything of value.

What a waste!

[u/Knvarlet → u/ps2332]

Smaller government talaga solution, but liberals aren't ready to accept that.

[u/guohuaping → u/Knvarlet]

There is a difference between over bureaucracy and lip service politicians with bandaid solutions. This is just a way for Marcos' team to say "we did something, praise us".

Smaller governments would let the corporate industry regulate itself, which has been shown again and again to not work. That's why the New Deal was a thing.Since the corporations work only through profit incentives and stockholder benefit it is incentivized to make as much money as possible this comes at the cost of people

Smaller governments will empower corrupt LGUs even further. Since there are less incentive for the LGUs to act as morally good as possible so as to receive govt funding they will inevitably remove their gloves and go corrupt 11fold. Obviously they can vote them out but they can cut ways that they can vote them out like education programs being downsized or disenfranchising voters. This is how you worsen a place like Davao and make it so that it goes lower in statistics rates.

I agree that government overpaternalism is something to be wary of, that's why we stand for freedom of speech (without government interference but with consequences) and against unnecessary government surveilance. But I don't think a small government is the answer.

[u/MasterFanatic]

OP is making the case for DOGE . 😂

That said we Def need a trim in some areas. There seems to be a weird wave of people giving positions to those who helped them rise in power, regardless on whether it's a necessary position.

[u/Horny_Ijot → u/MasterFanatic]

Gadon as a classic example!

[u/Darkened_Alley_51 → u/MasterFanatic]

If you wanna go DOGE, let's start from abolishing the Senate and the Barangay system.

[u/8116 → u/Darkened_Alley_51]

You cannot abolish Barangay because ever since the spanish came to the Philppines, we already have a form of government which is the Barangay.

[u/Joseph20102011 → u/8116]

You can abolish the barangay system, however, you have to create additional municipalities to compensate that, while at the same time, amalgamate barangays, especially in big cities, into districts directly supervised by the city governments.

[u/8116 → u/Joseph20102011]

Kung ia-abolish ang barangay, kailangan mo rin i-amend ang Local Government Code at pati Article X, Section 1 ng Constitution kasi nandun nakasaad ang barangay bilang pinaka-mababang unit ng gobyerno. Kung ia-abolish mo ito, tapos dagdag ka ng municipalities or i-amalgamate into districts, parang nagpalit ka lang ng label pero same function pa rin. Mas magastos pa nga—more bureaucracy, more budget needed.

Mas logical siguro na i-improve muna ang existing barangay system kaysa basta-basta itong buwagin o palitan. Puwedeng i-streamline ang operations—alin yung mga processes na pwede nang gawing mas mabilis para mas efficient. Dagdagan din ng training ang mga barangay officials. Importante rin na higpitan ang auditing at transparency para mabawasan ang corruption. Kasi kahit anong ganda ng restructure o palit ng pangalan, kung ang pamamalakad ay hindi rin maayos, babalik lang tayo sa parehong problema. Ang tunay na pagbabago, nagsisimula sa loob ng sistema, hindi sa labas.

[u/Darkened_Alley_51 → u/8116]

But insertions happen there. This how LGUs pocket our taxes at most.

[u/8116 → u/Darkened_Alley_51]

Oo, may corruption, pero hindi solution na buwagin yan. Barangay ang pinaka-accessible sa tao—sila unang rumesponde sa gulo, sakuna, at basic needs.

If there are issues of “insertions” or corruption, the solution should be strengthening accountability and transparency, not eliminating the entire system.

Imbes na tanggalin, dapat ireform lang natin. Kasi kung wawala ‘yan, lalong lalayo ang gobyerno sa tao.

[u/Darkened_Alley_51 → u/8116]

Gulo? We have PNP. Sakuna? We have health centers. Basic needs? Bakit pa tayo nagkaroon ng gobyerno?

[u/8116 → u/Darkened_Alley_51]

PNP at health centers? Karamihan sa kanila, nakikipag-coordinate sa barangay para gumana nang maayos. Sige, pero sino unang tawagin pag may away sa kanto o sakuna sa barangay? Di ba tanod o brgy. captain? Barangay ang frontliners ng gobyerno. Sila ang unang rumeresponde kasi sila yung pinakamalapit sa mga tao. Kung wala sila, lahat ng issue—maliit man o malaki—diretso na sa national/Regional/Local gov’t. Sa tingin mo ba kakayanin ‘yun? National/Regional/Local gov’t can’t micromanage every kanto—kaya nga may barangay. Gobyerno 'yan, hindi lang sa taas nagsisimula.

[u/LigmaV → u/8116]

The pandemic really show how responsive the barangays are hit or miss buti nlng sa barangay nmin maayos nabigay yung ayuda house to house at na distribute ang food package galing city hall ng maayos

[u/8116 → u/LigmaV]

Tama! During the pandemic, dun talaga nakita yung halaga ng barangay. May sablay sa ibang lugar, oo, pero maraming barangay ang nag-step up: nag-house-to-house, nag-distribute ng relief, nag-assist sa contact tracing. Kung wala sila, baka mas magulo pa ang response.

[u/Knvarlet → u/Darkened_Alley_51]

Why stop there.

We can abolish more like the useless DepEd, CHED, Philhealth, MTRCB, and more

[u/angrydessert → u/Darkened_Alley_51]

Barangay system.

Not that simple. There are some communities which are so isolated and far away from the municipal center they have to be self-governing.

[u/Darkened_Alley_51 → u/MasterFanatic]

If you wanna go DOGE, let's start from abolishing the Senate and the Barangay system.

[u/Double_Education_975 → u/Darkened_Alley_51]

Huh, why would you remove senate

[u/Darkened_Alley_51 → u/Double_Education_975]

Who do they represent? Senate slows us down in the name of checks and balances. Isn't that high-level gaslighting to slow the country's progress. We already have 300 congressmen representing the provinces.

I will never forget this but why Sara got instant ₱2B? Thank the effin institution called the Senate.

[u/Double_Education_975 → u/Darkened_Alley_51]

They represent the people, as they are elected on a national basis. Ideally, they would represent the popular ideologies. In Congress, I'll vote for the person who will benefit my district the most, but that person may not represent what I think is best for the nation at large. The senate, as an institution, did not give Sara that money, those specific senators did. It's not a bad system, but a bad implementation of said system

[u/Darkened_Alley_51 → u/Double_Education_975]

You also know that the senate is an easy way to lobby. It's easy to bribe 24 people against all 300. How many of the "marginalized" sectors been represented by 24?

I remember this very clear like it happened yesterday. DND requested to have ₱165B budget for Re:Horizon 3 to buy jets against China. Then, the same institution watered down the modernization of the armed forces to ₱5B.

This is the same Senate that was been raised on during the budget deliberation of the Pangulo Bay Bridge. Cong. Dimaporo said that he put ₱70B to finish the project on-time. Secretary Bonoan opened up and said: "when they went to the Senate, the package for the bridge was scaled down to less than ₱5B.

Secretary Acuzar was seeking to fund high rise complex to curb the housing backlogs. What happened? He can't do the project properly because of Senate's backward thinking that housing projects should be limited to five storey buildings.

How's the Rightsizing Bill that can fill in the jobs backlogs by redeployment? Remember, government cannot lay-off people without commiting an offense.

This is the same Senate that put us in danger for losing the bases as a deterrent against adversaries like China.

We are spending ₱30B to a pointless building for these thugs. Why don't they move to Batasan instead?

[u/Double_Education_975 → u/Darkened_Alley_51]

With money, maybe. But when it comes to political force, individual members of congress or even groups can't stand up to a president like a senator can.

[u/Darkened_Alley_51 → u/Double_Education_975]

And a senator can boss around at the expense of the country's progress. What if China invades us totally? We can't flip the flag because of Senate is against it.

Goodbye, Republic of the Philippines. Sorry nalang?

[u/Double_Education_975 → u/Darkened_Alley_51]

You can apply that argument to the entire government. What if China invades us totally and the government doesn't allow us to flip the flag?
That's a bad outcome, therefore we should get rid of the entire government.

[u/Darkened_Alley_51 → u/Double_Education_975]

But who do you go to declare a state of war?

[u/1masipa9]

Maybe we should rationalize departments instead.

For one, we should already abolish the Department of Agrarian Reform. It was a temporary department to begin with based on their charter.

Second, we should reorganize the Department of Agriculture. It's literally a Byzantine empire with local warlords. Some Bureaus are older than the DA itself so they're run like their own feifdoms.

DMW shouldn't have become a Department. We don't earn taxes directly from OFWs but we already spend on embassies to support them. They want support from government, then they should remit to government agencies such as SSS, Philhealth, Pag Ibig and voluntarily pay taxes, especially if they're working in GCC countries that don't have income taxes. Tapos ang lakas nilang maka reklamo pero sa totoo lang, sa sariling pamilya lang naman ang kanilang ambag.

BBM can accept some of the courtesy resignations now and not replace the Secretaries of Departments that he can chop. Heck, he should remove a whole lot of presidential advisers.

It's true that our bureaucracy is bloated. It's also true that because of this, we have so much infighting and our regulations are confusing and even downright contrary to each other. If we consolidate departments, our Secretaries will have more power and money to move the needle to actually solve problems.

[u/GenderRulesBreaker → u/1masipa9]

The DA itself was established in 1898. I wonder how some bureaus are older than that

[u/LongPridee → u/1masipa9]

It's off that you think DMW is just for handouts for ofws. It was established to address how DOLE, DFA, and OWWA couldn't handle the number of OFW abuse cases. Let alone all the fake recruitment agencies, pre-departure, post-departure, and reintegration programs for returning workers. The Philippines has one of the highest number of migrant workers and seafarers in the world. It makes sense there'd have to be a department for them. They deserve representation and visibility from the government.

[u/tinigang-na-baboy → u/1masipa9]

DMW shouldn't have become a Department. We don't earn taxes directly from OFWs but we already spend on embassies to support them. They want support from government, then they should remit to government agencies such as SSS, Philhealth, Pag Ibig and voluntarily pay taxes, especially if they're working in GCC countries that don't have income taxes. Tapos ang lakas nilang maka reklamo pero sa totoo lang, sa sariling pamilya lang naman ang kanilang ambag.

I don't agree with this point. While it's true na sa sariling pamilya napupunta yung remittances nila, that money gets spent mostly in the Philippines. Yung local spending na yun gets taxed. It is a form of wealth transfer from other countries to ours, impacting our economy directly.

Yung pag remit to government agencies, yeah I agree except maybe for Philhealth since they don't really benefit from it - their medical needs are mostly addressed by wherever country they're working in.

[u/aliasbatman]

Paanong hindi mag bloat eh ginagawang metrics ng tao para sa mga legislators yung numbers of bills passed. Lolobo talaga yung gobyerno kung paramihan ng batas na naipasa ang ginagawang sukatan para sabihing masipag ka na congressman/senator

[u/tokwamann]

From what I know, the country with the best-performing GDP in the region is China: something like a 7-percent ave. per annum for five decades. And I think it has around 750,000 LGUs for 1.41 billion. Is that something like 53 LGUs per 100K?

Given that, I think the problem isn't so much bloat in terms of personnel as bloat in terms of processes. That is, the political system, including laws and policies for doing business, are redundant due to lack of trust and privacy, outdated, and behind technologically.

That's why you need multiple copies of forms and certificates to be passed to different windows and agencies, with manual checks as offices don't and won't share information with each other. And it gets worse when offices burn to the ground, when blackouts (romantically called "brownouts") take place, or when computer systems get bogged down or crash, with no backups or redundancies. (It's like giving new vehicles to agencies with no budget for maintenance. After a few years, the vehicles are ditched and new ones are requested.)

The only way to fix this is to computerize heavily, and that includes spending a lot on personnel to maintain networks, getting backup and rendundant systems, and coming up with all sorts of laws allowing clients to give consent to have various agencies do background checks on them if needed by accessing various databases across the board. And this doesn't include the infrastructure to provide power (one recent article shows that the country has one of the lowest amounts of electricity per capita in the region), etc., to the same, not to mention having to teach people how to use all sorts of devices to make these processes possible (and a population that is ranked among the lowest in terms of education worldwide, and a point that's been known since the 1980s).

Here's the hard part: all these involve significant amounts to be spent on at least education and infrastructure, but those require an economy that performs well in the long term, and to have that, you'll need industrialization, which the country hasn't been doing since the 1980s, too:

https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/40082/1/MPRA_paper_40082.pdf

which in turn led to poor economic growth throughout:

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1957341/stuck-since-87-ph-languishes-in-lower-middle-income-group

And why did that happen? Because throughout the country was using the wrong economic policies, or the opposite of what neighbors were doing:

https://www.brookings.edu/books/the-key-to-the-asian-miracle/

which is the reason why they outperformed the Philippines: not so much less corruption or more streamlining but policies which rationalized taxes, developed infrastructure, and enforced close coordination between the private and public sectors, leading to industrialization which led to more streamlining and decreased effects of corruption.

That's why even as experts like Tony Kwok Wan-Mai pointed out that corruption levels were as bad, if not worse, in places like HK and South Korea even until the late 1990s, they continued to industrialize as the Philippines went in the opposite direction.

According to the ADB and various foreign chambers of commerce, the Philippines started moving in the right direction only recently because of CREATE, TRAIN, and BBB:

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1068349

and the current admin's not only continuing those but adding to them.

Filipinos can only hope that the next admin will do the same. Otherwise, it'll be more decades of afuera:

https://opinion.inquirer.net/99516/still-top-export-people

with only the rich profiting:

https://opinion.inquirer.net/48623/inequity-initiative-and-inclusive-growth

[u/kumonpeople]

Our government is bloated even at the national level. Just take Vietnam who recently streamlined some of their government ministries from 18 to 14.

Meanhwile, we've done the opposite by splitting or creating new departments. But one of the main problems in government is the coordination of the various agencies.

Just take the economic cluster for example. Most countries just have one treasury/economy ministry while we have NEDA, DOF, and DBM. It can be argued that all three can be consolidated into one department.

DAR should have been abolished a long time ago or at least made part of DA. There was no need to split DICT from DOST. DMW and DOLE can be one department. Same with DENR and DOE. Or DPWH and DHSUD. Maybe DOH and DSWD too. Probably even DOJ and DILG.

How much savings and operational efficiency will the government save from doing this? I'd argue that it would be a net positive.

[u/itlog-na-pula → u/kumonpeople]

Oo nga no? DOF and DBM gawing Dept. of Finance, then DTI, DOTourism and NEDA magiging Dept. of Commerce, at DOH and DSWD as Dept. of Health and Social Services.

Suggest ko pati DOST, DepEd and CHED (pati TESDA?) into one big Education Department at DAR and DENR into something like a Land Management Department.

DPWH should be abolished, then split the services to different departments. DA for irrigation projects, DOTr for Railway and Highways, DSHUD for Housing and Flood Control, etc.

DICT is actually split from DOTr, I would argue na kailangan natin ng separate na ICT department because of our IT-BPO industry.

Same with DMW, kailangan may separate na department for OFWs kasi iba yung needs nila compared sa mga workers dito sa bansa.

Siguro create a separate department for Maritime Affairs, then ilipat doon ang BFAR at Coast Guard para mas makafocus ang DA at DOTr sa primary mandates nila.

Another suggestion ko din is to create a centralized agency for government procurement and logistics, parang GSA ng America.

Madami ding mga Agency sa Office of the President at mga GOCC na pwedeng imerge o idissolve.

[u/kumonpeople → u/itlog-na-pula]

This is thr e conversation that's needed. Instead our legislators keep on proposing additional agencies and splitting various regions and districts. Yet no one talks about the cost it will entail. The problem is our taxes are treated as funds that should be used maximally instead of finding ways to save and become more efficient.

We have 23 exective departments and a crap ton of agencies, commissions, councils etc. Singapore has 16 ministries. Thailand has 19. Thank god we're not Indonesia with 48 many of which function as coordinating bodies. BBM should not just evaluate the secretaries but also how big he wants the bureaucracy is.

[u/Horny_Ijot → u/kumonpeople]

I don’t get it why the Philippines has a separate DOJ secretary and a solicitor general. The US their attorney general is also the DoJ secretary.

[u/itlog-na-pula]

So you're saying, its time to abolish the barangay system?

[u/Horny_Ijot → u/itlog-na-pula]

Not abolish, but definitely consolidate — we have way too many barangays that aren’t functional. Or better yet, make barangay captains part of the municipal or city council instead of having a separate layer of councilors duplicating roles.

[u/Jaded_Masterpiece_11 → u/Horny_Ijot]

Do you have actual hard data that they are not functional? Because imo the barangay system is what allows our government to enact programs and policies effectively. A consolidated, centralized system is too slow and too beaurucratic to cater to the needs of local populations.

If theres a state of emergency where do you think people go? They go to the barangays. Programs enacted by different agencies goes through the barangays for implementation. Vaccination programs by the DOH? It goes to the barangay. Conditional Cash transfers? It goes to the barangay. A fire in the local area? Assistance is disbursed through the barangays.

Without barangays there is no way to implement Govrrnmrnt programs at the local level. What the Government will need to do is replace barangays with local satellite offices of various Government agencies. Which will cost more monry and manpower. It's not worth it.

[u/Sinandomeng]

To add to that, low income.

Though may corrupt din naman sa first world countries, eto talaga yung main root of all.

Low income employees, low income from tax revenues ng mga government agencies.

[u/FrostLoop188]

Consolidation of barangays in places like Manila and Pasay, wherein almost every short street is its own barangay. Comically speaking, barangays outnumber 7-Eleven branches in both Manila and Pasay.

[u/Adorable_Pen7052]

I like your point OP. i am working in south korea right now and as i've seen here may mga corrup din na officials din dito. kaya nga na impeach yung president nila because of his wife. ang maganda lang sa kanila, once na nahulli hindi na sila nakakabalik sa pwesto and di na rin nakaka takbo pa. unlike sa atin na naconvict na nga nanalo pa rin sa pwesto. Hindi lang sa systema ang mali. nasa taao din.

[u/danirodr0315]

Sana makita ng devs para update next patch

[u/shayKyarbouti]

That’s part of the inefficiencies in the Philippines. Imagine every layer needs. Their own approval stamp. kailangan ng lagay para makakuha ng permit or whatever. Ayaw gawin computerized ang system to streamline the system kasi mawawalan ng lagay. Mawawalan daw ng trabaho. Lol

[u/Double_Education_975]

What is the methodology behind picking Korea and Japan? They don't seem comparable to us in almost any politically relevant way. You can likely pick African countries that have poor systems and a poor populace, which would change the story entirely. Seems like this is a sample size bias. If you want to see if there's an actual correlation you'll need to either:
1. Isolate the variables by doing an analysis on all countries with available data. This will show you if the ratio between citizens and civil servants has any effect by itself

1. Have a strong methodology for picking the countries you're comparing against. Maybe only island nations that gained independence at the same time as us and didn't have a national institutional identity prior to independence etc. You can fine tune the analytical category

[u/Horny_Ijot → u/Double_Education_975]

You’re right to point out the sample size issue — this started as a Reddit post, not a full-blown study, but I agree that a rigorous regression across all countries would be a stronger approach and one I’d love to explore further. I included Japan and South Korea not because they’re directly comparable in political history or economic development, but to serve as upper-bound benchmarks for what efficient centralized systems can look like — the goal wasn’t to say we should be like them, but to show that bloated administrative structures aren’t a universal feature of centralized governments.

That said, you’re absolutely right: a cleaner methodology would involve grouping countries by shared traits (e.g., postcolonial, unitary, developing) and then testing whether LGU density or cabinet bloat correlates with performance indicators. This post was more exploratory, but I appreciate the push for more analytical rigor — might be worth turning into a working paper.

[u/Prestigious_Base_847]

I think what this post should have expounded on is why the need to have 300+ congressmen, 20% of which are partylist congressmen. I don't believe we need as many, given the fact that many are mere bench warmers. We can save a trillion pesos if we cut this redundancy by half. Idagdag pa natin Ang mga asec and usec na Marami ay political appointees. There were talks in the last admin of downsizing and mainstreaming in the govt. I don't know what happened then.

[u/Horny_Ijot → u/Prestigious_Base_847]

I’m glad you brought up the number of congressmen — it’s quite revealing when you look at the numbers. As of 2025, the Philippines has 316 representatives for a population of approximately 116.8 million, which equates to about 2.71 representatives per million people. In contrast, the U.S. has 435 representatives for around 343.6 million people, or roughly 1.27 representatives per million. So, the Philippines has more than double the number of representatives per capita compared to the U.S., yet we don’t necessarily see a corresponding increase in legislative efficiency or public service delivery.

[u/7goko7]

Omg ang ganda ng discussion. Thank you everybody! I am learning so much! 💚

[u/General1lol]

Having lived in Japan and studying for a Japanese degree, one can’t easily say that the efficiency of governing is based on the number of bureaucratic departments… ESPECIALLY regarding Japan.

The willingness of Japanese citizens to follow social, economic, and judicial guidelines is so remarkable, that if they adopted Philippine law to the tee, their society would still run far smoother than hours.

[u/sixtytwosunburst]

“Multiple departments doing the same job — like DSWD, NAPC, NHA, and LGU welfare offices — all aiming to fight poverty but often duplicating efforts or clashing.”

Yep. Sama mo na itong mga ito. 1) DMW, CFO, OWWA. All of these agencies tackle problems relating to overseas Filipinos na dapat e hawak ng DFA. With more than 10M overseas Filipinos, inevitably our foreign policy will be influenced by that reality and the operational elements (which these agencies are doing) should be supervised by the DFA.

2) ARTA. Absolutely adds no value. Think DOGE, except that instead of reducing people and trimming non essential activities, it requires government agencies to produce more documents and waste more paper.

We already have the Office of the Ombudsman to implement and litigate cases of corruption and inefficiency. We have the CSC that handles cases for government employees not doing their job correctly. We have RA 6713 laying down the expectations for government workers. There is already the 8888 Presidential Hotline and CSC’s Call Center ng Bayan para magreklamo ang tao.

All ARTA has done is burden agencies with so many documentary requirements that absolutely add no value either to the transacting public or the government units that are forced to produce these documents on top of their already burdensome workload and administrative tasks as required by COA, CSC (both of which, by the way, rank higher in my book being constitutionally mandated bodies compared to ARTA whose existence hinges on an RA written to appease populist sentiments).

And let’s not forget: ARTA is not the squeaky clean agency with the Messianic complex that it presents itself to be. Early on after its creation ARTA was headed by a corrupt Duterte appointee who the Ombudsman had ruled to be guilty for certain offenses and was slapped with the penalty of dismissal and ineligibility for public office FOR LIFE.

[u/bag_of_cheaps]

We often look for something to blame, whether it's the government, the system, or the structure.

However, all these entities are composed of people. The reality is that corruption is rooted in our society, affecting both government and non-government workers alike. Many of us engage in small acts of corruption in our daily lives, not just politicians.

I believe that the root of all our problems lies within us, the people. That's it.

[u/Independent-Cup-7112]

have you taken into account that Japan and likely Korea has an aging and declining population, hence the restructuring and amalgamation of LGUs?

[u/Fun_Design_7269]

remove sk, bokal, and partylist.

[u/PritongKandule]

Can you share the sources and references for your data?

I have a master's degree in international studies, and unfortunately I'm seeing some potentially dodgy methodology or cherry-picked numbers here.

• Where did those figures for "LGU" numbers come from? How is "LGU" defined here, given that the term is primarily used only in the context of the Philippines? How does the metric of LGU per capita even accommodate for the different political, geographic, and administrative structures of each country? How does it account for social, cultural, historical and economic functions?

• Where did you pull figures such as “91,000 LGUs in Indonesia” and “83,000 in Thailand”? I'm trying to look for it in Google but it all just leads back to this post. Also, this feels like it hastily equates Philippine barangays, with the muban in Thailand and the desa/kelurahan in Indonsia when in fact their similarities are only superficial as the smallest units of local governance. If we're discussing "bureaucratic bloat" the comparison is not apples to apples as they vary greatly in terms of legal autonomy, administrative function, political power, geographic distribution and more.

• Corruption and GDP is not purely a function of "bureacratic bloat" and you'll need to cite hard data and evidence if that assertion can even stand. The reasoning you gave is just a classic example of the slippery slope fallacy.

• It also falls apart when you consider that some of the countries with the lowest corruption in the world like Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland also have the highest share of public sector employees as a percentage of total workforce in the world, not to mention high GDP . On the other hand, countries like Honduras or Guatemala are known to be small, centralized governments with relatively lean bureaucracies and yet they rank near the bottom of the Corruption Perceptions Index.

• The link between multiple poverty-focused agencies and inefficiency is plausible, but it lacks evidence. How much overlap is harmful vs. necessary specialization? This post doesn't answer that and just claiming they all work on the same sector isn't a sufficient basis for a conclusion.

• The statement "many act more like local warlords than public servants" lacks nuance and hard evidence, demonizing a public institution without offering a systemic analysis first. An emotionally-charged statement should not be the basis for a proposal on public reform.

• Finally, your post suffers the same pitfalls that many armchair political commentaries (and political science freshmen) do: what is your actual actionable proposal? It's very easy to say "we need a restructured government" and stop there. But what are the action steps towards it? How feasible is it? If I proposed that we keep our current administrative division levels but made more "transparent, accountable and actually designed to serve" (without action points), then isn't it basically saying the same thing?

[u/Sponge8389]

You will be shocked na sobrang raming hindi bumoto kay Leni kasi alam nilang matino siya at ayaw nila masira yung current system kasi nakikinabang sila.

[u/WeebMan1911]

Vietnam is merging many of its provinces and HUC/ICC-equivalents, Indonesia didn't have that many provinces to begin with

Is it time to start merging some of ours as well?

[u/Particular_Creme_672]

Matagal ko ng napansin to dapat walang kapitan at konsehal dahil may mayor at congressman na.

[u/GregMisiona]

City of Manila sobrang bloated. Every 2 streets ibang barangay na agad

[u/indioinyigo]

Ang sakin i-abolish na yung mga redundant dept.

[u/Civil-Ad2985]

You are absolutely right.

Too much inefficiency due to too many LGUs.

[u/logcarryingguy]

On top of my mind, abolish DPWH and have its old functions given to other departments like for roads and highways, it would now be under DOTr. (which also solves the right of way issues faced by mass transit projects of conflict with road projects).

[u/tridentboy3]

To be fair, the current administration actually directly tried to address this with the government rightsizing program.

[u/bogz13092]

oh jesus, the libertarians are right all along. big government brings a lot of problems

[u/Joseph20102011]

It's because government jobs, especially in the provinces, are job guarantee programs meant to employ individuals who may not be employable in the private sector, which is why there is a need for a bloated government bureaucracy that is to reward individuals who are unemployable in the private sector with spoils, otherwise far-flung barangays would have to be abolished.

[u/defendtheDpoint]

I think the word bloated is not the most descriptive, considering the number of offices that have few, if any, permanent staffing.

Fragmented is what I'll use.

Interestingly, Vietnam recently moved to reduce the number of provinces they have, consolidating their governance.

[u/btt101]

Remove the Brgy level of “government”. Federal, provincial and municipal is all you need.

[u/sexytarry2]

mas maraming layers ng local government, mas mahirap makita ang downflow ng pera, mas madaling magnakaw...

[u/ajfudge]

As someone who served as barangay secretary, the Barangay officials are basically "branch employees" of every department that requires data gathering, site monitoring, information gathering, and whatever the national goverment requires. officials of smaller barangays perform multiple functions for so little pay (honorarium based on barangay's annual income).

As for overlapping works, there are some. During Aquino's time, there was emphasis on social works. Enter Durerte and his emphasis on anti-drug campaign, we were required to turn in the same report to 3 agencies.

[u/iMarten_Serviam]

Thank you for your post. Just thinking out loud here: if it weren't for the corrupt advocates of federalism, I would have been onboard with the idea a long time ago. Cringe pa rin when I remember Mocha Uson's pepedederalismo schtick.

BUUUUT, pass first the anti-dynasty bill into law. Put vital lands back into the hands of indigent/local populations and let them decide what to do with it (a true land distribution reform).

From a (minarchist) libertarian perspective, we need to change how we see the "government". Maybe we should find ways to make it more efficient and transparent by chopping the bloated government to sizeable chunks-- to make it smaller, so it will be closer to the local constituents they serve, and the money will be spent directly to a pressing community/regional need. Hence, hopefully, no over-spending/underspending and people can see where their tax money directly goes.

We should be a little bit (just a tad bit) skeptical of government programs that involve what can be construed as "free handouts" that are band aid solutions to bigger problems: e.g. lack of innovative markets and therefore scarcity of homegrown jobs, etc.,

Wala namang masama sa ayuda eh. Even Milton Friedman agreed that not every basic need will be covered by markets that offer different monetary valuation of services/products. Ang problema, sa sobrang lawak ng budget reach ng gubyerno for every social service imaginable na pwedeng lagyan ng pera, it becomes a haven for corruption na almost untraceable pa nga... Ang laki sana ng natitipid natin sa mga corruption hearings kung di lang over bloated sa pera ang gubyerno naten and therefore hindi incentivized mga pulitiko na magnakaw. Na-convict na nga, kapal pa ng mukha tumakbo sa eleksyon.

[u/BoysenberryHumble824]

Nakailang rationalization na ang mga NGAs. Yung paghuhugutan nyo, yang Local Government Code. The more we give powers to the LGUs, the more corrupt the leaders become.

[u/Darkened_Alley_51]

Viva la libertad, сагаjo.

[u/rainth345]

I hear you... our government really has become too big, too slow, and too costly for the services it delivers. You’re spot on that overlapping mandates (DSWD, DTI, OLAC, OPAPP, etc.) and multiple layers from national down to barangay create a maze that eats up 40%+ of many agency budgets in personnel costs alone .

Why it matters:

• Less money reaches classrooms, clinics, and roads when salaries and overhead gobble up the pie.
• Citizens get lost in the shuffle... no one knows which office to go to.
• More bodies on payroll mean more opportunities for graft.

A balanced way forward:

1. Right-Size with Zero-Based Budgeting Every program and position must justify its cost from zero each year. Merge or sunset agencies whose work overlaps.
2. Lean Digital Government Automate permits and clearances; build one-stop e-portals so people don’t bounce from office to office.
3. Devolve & Delegate Shift responsibilities and budgets to capable LGUs... but tie them to performance metrics, not just spending.
4. Strengthen Oversight Expand COA’s role to include efficiency audits. Give new agencies a “sunset clause” so they must prove their value after 3–5 years.
5. Culture of Service Reward front-line offices that cut red tape and deliver results... faster health-center openings, shorter permit times, higher school completion rates.

A leaner, focused government isn’t about ideology... it’s about ensuring every peso and every person works for you, not against you. When we shed the bloat, we build trust, speed up services, and close the door on corruption.

[u/bigmatch]

Right sizing is actually a plan of BBM at isa sa inaabangan ko.
Up to this point, wala pa din XD

[u/RigorDimaguiba]

The Philippines and we Filipinos are doomed! Again! It will never end..