Marcos: Use turn of the year to renew, reflect
President Marcos on Wednesday urged Filipinos to welcome the New Year by looking beyond their personal resolutions and to reflect instead on their collective role in shaping the country.
In his New Year message, Mr. Marcos called on everyone to embrace 2026 with discipline, confidence and a shared commitment to the nation’s progress.
“Beyond personal resolutions, the New Year calls on us to examine how we live with one another, how we lift one another and how our choices shape our nation,” he said.
“A society thrives when its people choose empathy over indifference, service over self-interest, and hope over despair,” he added.
The President also encouraged Filipinos to use the turning of the year to reflect and renew.
“It gives us the opportunity to look back on the year that has passed—its lessons, challenges and achievements—and to look ahead with hope and purpose to the possibilities that await us,” he said.
The President committed that his administration would be relentless in pursuing a government that would nurture unity, foster compassion and showcase the greatness of Filipinos.
“As we move into the days ahead, may we go forward with a clearer understanding of our role in each other’s lives and a renewed commitment to building a future shaped not by circumstance alone, but by the strength of our will and the clarity of our collective purpose,” he said.
Working holiday
According to Palace press officer Claire Castro, President Marcos spent the holiday season working and will continue to do so in the coming days as he is the middle of scrutinizing the proposed 2026 national budget.
“The President will remain here and will not be traveling. He will welcome the New Year with his family and loved ones,” she said in a message to reporters.
The coming year will be pivotal for the Marcos administration to regain the trust and confidence of Filipinos as his anticorruption campaign concerning anomalous infrastructure projects goes into full swing.
Malacañang vowed that more “big fishes” in the corruption scandal, including politicians, would be jailed in 2026, after critics noted that only the “small fry” had been arrested and charged so far.
The President’s commitment for good governance will also be put into test this year as the executive branch executes the P6.793-trillion national budget, which the Palace and Congress has touted as the product of significant reforms.
Malacañang said that President Marcos would be able to sign the 2026 national budget “in the first week of January,” as he and his team review all allocations and provisions in the enrolled spending bill to fully account for any changes from the originally submitted National Expenditure Program.
The President may either sign the enrolled bill into law as is or veto certain line items.
