‘Ready for the task’ Marcos: ‘We do not look back, but ahead’
MANILA, Philippines — In his first address as the Chief Executive of the Philippines, newly sworn-in President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. chose not to dwell on the past, saying “we do not look back, but ahead.”
“I am here not to talk about the past, I am here to tell you about our future. A future of sufficiency, even plenty of readily available ways and means to get done what needs doing. By you, by me,” Marcos said after he was sworn in as the country’s new leader.
“We do not look back, but ahead. Up the road that we must take to a place better than the one we lost in the pandemic. Gains made and lost, opportunities missed, well laid plans superseded by the pandemic. Indeed, ours was the fastest growing economy in Asean by ways now outdated. We shall be again, by a radical change in the way the world must now work to recover what we have lost in that fire and move on from there,” he added.
In his inaugural speech, Marcos also stressed the value of listening to “contrary views,” saying dialogues should be sought, not scorned.
“We shall seek not to scorn dialogue, listen respectfully to contrary views, be open to suggestions coming from hard-thinking and unsparing judgment but always from us Filipinos,” he said.
“We can trust no one else when it comes to what is best for us, past history has often proven that. Always be open to differing views, but ever united by our chosen goal. Our future, we decide today. Yesterday cannot make that decision anymore nor can tomorrow delay it,” he added.
Pres. Bongbong Marcos during his inaugural speech at the National Museum.
‘Ready for the task’
Marcos also assured Filipinos that the country “will go very far under [his] watch.”
“I believe that if we focus on the work at hand and the work that will come to hand, we will go very far under my watch. You believe that, too,” he said, adding that he listened to the Filipinos’ call for unity.
“We will go farther together than against each other, pushing forward, not pulling each other back, out of fear, out of a misplaced sense of weakness. But we are the furthest from weak. The Filipino diaspora flourishes even in the most inhospitable climbs where they are valued for their quality,” he added.
He likewise promised changes that will “benefit all and will shortchange no one.”
“I was not the instrument of change, you were that, you made it happen,” he said.
“You picked me to be your servant, to enable changes to benefit all. I fully understand the gravity of the responsibility that you’ve put on my shoulders. I do not take it lightly but I am ready for the task,” he added.
Marcos was sworn in as President a little past noon on June 30. He assumed the presidency 36 years after his family was exiled following the downfall of his father’s regime in 1986.
Marcos won by a landslide in the May 2022 polls, garnering over 31 million votes, more than double that of his main rival, former vice president Leni Robredo.
