President Marcos has urged the new graduates of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) to not be distracted by the “blatant” destabilization attempts and disregard of internationally accepted principles and focus on urgent tasks ahead.

Marcos said this during the Commencement Exercises of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “BAGONG SINAG” Class of 2024 in Baguio City on Saturday, May 18.

In his speech, the President said the country must be resolute amid birth pains caused by the country’s transformation. 

“Bagong Pilipinas is now being slowly born. This a time of birth pains—sadly, of opportunism, blatant attempts of destabilization, and last-ditch to cling to the rapidly disappearing past,” he said.

“But we must be resolute. We must hold on.  We cannot turn back,” he added.

Fortunately, Marcos said that Filipinos are not easily fooled due to the progress and development that replaced bombs and cannons over the past two years.

“What we are facing now are a blatant disregard of internationally accepted principles and deployment of weapons of mass distraction by parties who seek to drive a wedge between a united citizenry,” he said.

“But people are not fooled. They can see through such schemes,” he added.

The President reminded the government’s uniformed forces to focus on serving the people and the country.

“So, these attempts to divert our attention, dissipate our energy better spent on making the country should not draw us away from the urgent tasks ahead,” he said.

“And that is to keep our people safe in their homes, our territory secure, our defenses against threats strong, and our democracy stable,” he added.

President Marcos said the PMA graduates must participate in the government’s efforts against parties whose fossilized ideas have been rejected by a people tired of war, intruders disrespecting the country’s territorial integrity, and evolving threats that harm the people and corrode social and political trust

“We will vigorously defend what is ours, but our conduct is always guided by law and [by] our responsibility as a rules-abiding member of the community of nations,” he said.

“We will be adept, we will be flexible, and we will be ready in repelling such things,” he added.