La Paz, Abra Mayor Joseph “JB” Bernos. (Photo from House of Representatives’ website)
MANILA, Philippines — The review of the performances of cabinet officials of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should also consider the national government’s partnerships with local government units (LGUs).
This view comes from the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) amid the chief executive’s call for the resignation of all cabinet members.
LMP, through its national president, Mayor Joseph “JB” Bernos of La Paz, Abra, said on Thursday that collaborations with LGUs should be a “key criterion in evaluating cabinet officials.’
“I unequivocally express my support to the President’s orders on behalf of the 1,486-strong League of Municipalities of the Philippines,” Bernos said in a statement.
“If local government units conduct periodic performance reviews, so must the national government, especially those who are entrusted to bring the President’s vision to reality,” he noted.
“The only thing I am asking the President is to also consider how much the Departments have collaborated or supported the municipalities in the past three (3) years,” he suggested.
Bernos recently won the elections for the lone district of Abra.
In a press release from the Presidential News Desk, Marcos said the results of the recently-concluded elections cannot be considered “business as usual.”
He emphasized that the people expect better results.
“It’s time to realign government with the people’s expectations,” he announced.
READ: Marcos orders courtesy resignation of all Cabinet secretaries
According to the president, officials “who have delivered and continue to deliver will be recognized.”
At the same time, he told fellow public officials that government “cannot afford to be complacent.”
On Monday, Marcos, in the inaugural episode of his podcast, said the elections gave him an idea that Filipinos are disappointed with the government.
He said that his administration may have focused too much on big-ticket projects, leading to the neglect of small but important matters.
“Nothing will happen in the Philippines. That’s as far as we’ll go. We won’t… we won’t rise. I said we need to change that,” the president observed.
“So I looked at the big, difficult projects that will have long-term effects—those are the ones we should work on,” he explained.
“So, we worked on it. That’s why the projects we made a priority were big ones—tourism, health—all major projects,” he recalled.
“The problem with big projects, like transportation, for example, is that they really take time,” the president concluded./apl
READ: Marcos’ post-election takeaway: We need to speed up gov’t services