Bongbong Marcos tells mayors to adopt new technologies

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. delivers a speech at Villamor Airbase in Pasay city before flying to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, October 19, 2023, to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit. (File phto from INQUIRER.net/Ryan Leagogo)

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is encouraging local government units (LGUs) to innovate and tackle 21st century issues.

Marcos made this call at the Philippine Mayors’ Forum at Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria in Quezon city on Friday.

“For more than three decades, this landmark law has provided us with a trusted set of guidelines and I’m talking about the Local Government Code, on how to go about the process of devolution, with an emphasis on making our local government units more efficient, more empowered, and more self-sustaining,” the President said in his speech.

“However, we are now in the 21st century. There are new challenges in both the local and national levels—issues that were not conceived of by the code’s framers 30 years ago,” he pointed out.

“That require us now to discover, to explore, to employ better ways of capacitating our localities,” he noted.

The Chief Executive told local leaders to use the forum to discuss global issues.

He, however, did not mention what these specific topics are.

“I welcome this forum which seeks to harness the power of innovation, digital governance, resiliency-building to ensure that the government can better respond to the demands of the times,” said Marcos.

Department of Interior and Local Government organized the event, with agencies under United Nations

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