Marcos to local execs: Do your part in ending corruption

Slamming corruption as the poison that has robbed Filipinos of a better future, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Tuesday urged local chief executives to step up their efforts in eradicating the culture of corruption in order to restore Filipinos’ trust in the government.

He made the call during the oath-taking ceremony for the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) National Executive Board (NEB) and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) National Executive Officers in Malacañang.

"Mga kasama kong mga lingkod-bayan, alam kong hindi madali ang trabaho sa lokal na pamahalaan. Marami ring hamon ang kinakaharap ng ating bansa. Lahat tayo dismayado sa mga ulat ng katiwalian na nakikita natin sa pamahalaan," the President said in his speech.

(To my fellow public servants, I know that work in the local government is not easy. Our country is facing a lot of challenges. We are all dismayed with the corruption that we see in the government.)

"Ngunit, malinaw ang ating adhikain. Sa Bagong Pilipinas, walang puwang ang korapsyon at ang pandaraya," Marcos said.

(But our goal is clear. In Bagong Pilipinas, there's no place for corruption.)

He added: "We must take responsibility to eradicate this abhorrent culture of corruption that has poisoned the public trust and has robbed us of a better future," he added.

Marcos urged the local chief executives to continue the "work that will change millions of lives" as honest civil servants.

"Be testaments that public service can still be honest and hopeful," he said.

In an episode of the BBM Podcast uploaded on Tuesday, the President stressed that there are many honest, hard-working public servants in the government who genuinely serve the public and make sacrifices beyond what is asked of them.

He maintained that despite corruption woes plaguing the government, corrupt government officials are not the face of the government and are just merely the “face of corruption.”

"We must respect that people are really working very hard and trying their best. You cannot paint everyone in government with the same brush as all of these corrupt operators that you see in government," Marcos said.

"And yes, there are many, many of them. But you will find they do not filter down. These people are making serious sacrifices. Time away from their family. Money out of their own pocket. Things like that," the President added. — JMA, GMA Integrated News