President Marcos vows to ‘build better more’ in 2024

MANILA — President Marcos stated that providing excellent service to Filipinos is the government’s resolution for the New Year, as he vowed to “build better more” and to eliminate rules that obstruct the implementation of projects in 2024.

“When a new year comes, Filipinos have a New Year’s resolution or a promised change in their lives. The New Year’s resolution of your government is to strive to render excellent and honest service in full swing, which is the key to a better life for all of us,” the President said in a recorded New Year message.

“We will continue to purge government of rules that slow the delivery of public services because when projects get delayed, progress is denied our people. And this commitment to efficiency and service will extend to documents and licenses because service delayed is also service denied,” he added.

According to Marcos, there are government achievements “not captured by headline economic barometers.”

He cited the building of 33 additional specialty centers, more than 2,000 classrooms and seven additional cold chain facilities.

The administration also facilitated investments in renewable energy through the award of renewable energy contracts with a total potential capacity of around 121,000 megawatts, the President said. Eight water supply projects have also been completed, with 147 additional water projects being implemented in preparation for next year, he added.

“We look back to the past year, pleased with what we have done. We look forward to the new year with a pledge to build better, and more. We have set high hopes for the days ahead, and we know that this can only be achieved with hard work,” the Chief Executive said. Marcos noted that not all public projects “are sunk into the ground” as a great bulk of these are assistance given to the needy, including the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers or TUPAD, the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation or AICS and Medical Assistance for Indigent Patients or MAIP.

Such state programs, the President said, are not just safety nets that catch those who fell into hard times but are “scaffolds upon which one can climb from where they find themselves now.”

“Our social programs provide welfare armor to the vulnerable, but they also provide the means for them to overcome the very state that they find themselves in. Thus, most ayudas (aid) are not a type of permanent welfare, because we do not promote a life of dependency,” Marcos said.

He expressed optimism Filipinos would be able to overcome all the challenges they would encounter in the coming year. “No doubt, the coming year will bring its fair share of new challenges. But these we have weathered before. Like the great tribulations our forefathers defeated, and as the proud inheritors of this indefatigable spirit, we too shall overcome,” he said.

“The race of Rizal, Bonifacio, Mabini will not accept defeat easily. This is a land of heroes, past and present. The hard-fought gains of 2023 have prepared us for whatever difficulties 2024 will present,” he said.

Marcos also expressed hope that the country’s aspirations would be realized, noting that development should not just be read about or heard in speeches but also felt by many.