President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stated on Friday that his main objective with two years remaining in his administration is to rebuild public confidence in the state and restore trust between Filipinos and their leaders.
Speaking to reporters, Marcos envisioned a transition toward a more consultative approach to public service, prioritizing direct citizen feedback over traditional top-down governance.
”Legacy? I just hope we put the faith of people back in government, and that we now have a government that people can depend on, people can trust, and that people can talk to,” Marcos told reporters.
”Instead of having the government telling you these are the things you do, I hope that we have started a listening government where we actually listen to people. We don’t tell people what to do,” he said.
Marcos highlighted his administration’s expanded engagement with local government units (LGUs) and the strategic distribution of state resources via the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) as primary drivers of this transition. The framework grants regional officials greater authority in allocating public funds to meet localized needs directly.
”The local government knows the situation in their area better than anybody else, better than the President, better than the Cabinet secretaries, better than anybody else,” he said.
”No one should know more about their constituency than them. Same applies to a mayor. Same applies to a barangay official so that we make government more accessible, not only in terms of transparency, but accessible in terms of we can bring our concerns to government and we have enough confidence that they will, in fact, do something about it,” he said.
The Chief Executive noted his goal is to establish the national government as an accessible partner to all sectors in advancing national development.
”That’s the legacy I hope to leave: that now government is your partner hand in hand with every citizen, with every sector, hand in hand trying to build a better Philippines, trying to make the Philippines better, trying to make the lives of our people better, trying to create more jobs, trying to increase the livelihood, trying to bring development, trying to be part of the global economy, an active part, an important part of the global economy.”
”That’s what we are trying to do. That’s what I hope that we will leave when the time comes in 2028.”
These remarks come as the administration addresses fallout from major corruption allegations involving collusive flood control contracts. While the executive branch ordered a full audit of all flood mitigation projects since 2022 and published the comprehensive listing online, demand for accountability persists.
In a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, President Marcos registered a 28% trust rating in July 2026, reflecting a slight rise from 25% recorded in March.