PRESIDENT Marcos on Friday urged the country’s local chief executives to prepare for new challenges and to learn best practices in boosting the delivery of public services.
“Let me challenge our mayors to not only make the most out of this forum. Let us make good use of this forum,” the President said during the Philippine Mayors’ Forum in Quezon City.
The gathering coincides with the 32nd Anniversary of the enactment of the Local Government Code of 1991 embodying the guidelines on devolution, efficiency, and self-sustainability,
The Chief Executive stressed that there are new challenges that should be addressed by both the local and national governments.
“I welcome this forum which seeks to harness the power of innovation, digital governance, and resiliency-building to ensure that the government can better respond to the demands of the times and, when I speak of government, I speak of government at every level,” Mr. Marcos noted.
The President said programs similar to the forum are “a very effective multiplier” in terms of the efforts of the government and the support of the United Nations (UN) that will accelerate the capacity-building of local governments.
He encouraged the mayors to make use of the UN program and take advantage of the knowledge, training, and experience that the organization has gained not only in the Philippines, but all around the world.
“The learnings from the UN programs should be applied and amplified to their constituents,” Mr. Marcos said.
“In that way, we are able to achieve more. So we must also explore international partnerships such as that with your counterpart, not only in the Philippines but in other countries as well. In that way, we will learn the best, best practices in improving public service delivery,” he added.
He also assured the mayors that his administration will remain their leading partner in enhancing their capacities to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Ambisyon Natin 2040.