Amid criticisms against the enacted budget of 2025, President Marcos urged public officials, who graduated from the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), to help his administration ensure that the budget given to the offices they belong to is spent wisely.

During the graduation rites of the 661 graduates, who hold senior and middle management positions in various organizations, Marcos asked them to be stewards of transparency and good governance.
"We are working to ensure that the government budget and spending shall help improve the lives of our people and propel our nation to greater heights," Marcos said in his speech during the One DAP graduation at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City on Friday, Jan. 31.
Armed with new learnings and the values inculcated by the DAP, Marcos asked the graduates to "be the stewards of transparency and good governance" once they fully resume their work in government.
"I trust you to ensure that every centavo appropriated to your offices be spent judiciously and wisely for projects that sustainably benefit the Filipino people not only of this present generation but all those who are to come," he said.
The President told them to start by helping the government improve the delivery of services, and the ease in public transactions such as reducing red tape and eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic processes.
He told them to "never lose sight of your core," and "remember why you joined the public service and why you even pursued additional and rigorous competitive programs in this Academy."
He further told them that the nation is in need of leaders who are committed to the greater good and leaders who always opt to choose a "difficult right" over a "convenient wrong."
'Keep banging your head against a brick wall'
In his speech, the Chief Executive encouraged the graduates to be patient because one day, they will see the effects of their work.
"My advice to you is be patient. The time will come when you will see that you continue to go at the problem, and sometimes it feels like you’re banging your head against a brick wall. Well, keep banging," he told the public sector professionals.
"Because one day we will see the effects that banging your head against the wall and continuing the work that you have committed your life to, you will see that the effects and the results of your hard work, and to the benefit of other people. You will have changed lives. You will have made lives better for ordinary people --- people you do not even know," he added.
The One DAP graduation served as a culmination of several flagship programs aimed at enhancing governance and productivity across the public and private sectors.