No matter how complex government budget is, it must be made accessible and understandable for every Filipino, President Marcos said.

The President made the remark on Friday, June 26, during the launch of the Centralized Open Monitoring Platform for Appropriations and Spending Statistics (COMPASS), a new digital platform that aims to help Filipinos track where public funds go and how they are spent.

In his speech, he stressed that "many of our citizens see government budgets as complex, inaccessible, and removed from their daily lives."

"This should not be the case," he said. "We need to make government budget and spending easily accessible and understandable for any Filipino who has any interest whatsoever in finding out where their money is going."

According to Marcos, the platform allows the public to see and track where their hard-earned money goes. It is under the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

He underscored that in order to regain the people's trust, they must feel the impact of the national budget.

"Kung nais natin mapanumbalik ang tiwala ng taumbayan, dapat malinaw, bukas at nakikita ang ating ginagawa (If we want to restore the people's trust, our actions must be clear, transparent, and visible)," Marcos said.

"Hindi sapat na kumpleto at tama ang ating mga papel. Kailangan nararamdaman din ang budget ng taumbayan. Kailangang nakikita ng bawat Pilipino na tayo ay responsable dahil walang silbi ang pananagutan kung hindi ito isinasabuhay (It is not enough for our documents to be complete and accurate. The people must also feel the impact of the national budget. Every Filipino must see that we are acting responsibly, because accountability is meaningless unless it is put into practice)," Marcos added.

The President also stressed that every department must align its budget with national priorities.

He further said that every agency must strengthen procurement, reporting, and implementation.

"Every public office must be prepared to show where the funds went, and what they have achieved in improving the lives of every Filipino family," he added.

On the same event, Marcos also led the endorsement of the Philippines Public Financial Management (PFM) Reforms Roadmap 2024-2028 Midterm Update which streamlines the original 41 reform interventions to 18 priority measures — 14 mission-critical reforms and four quick wins, all targeted for completion by 2028.

The remaining 23 long-term interventions will continue to be pursued based on institutional readiness, available resources and support from development partners.

"The Philippines Public Financial Management Reforms Roadmap 2024 to 2028 Midterm Update gives us the framework to put this belief into action by strengthening the systems that ensure that every peso is carefully spent and accounted for and despite its essentially technical nature public financial management has a deeply human impact," Marcos said. 

"It determines whether schools are built on time, whether hospitals are equipped, whether farmers and fisherfolk are supported, whether infrastructure projects are completed efficiently, and whether assistance reaches its intended beneficiaries," he added.

Marcos expressed hopes that by 2028, "we must be able to say that government has become more open, more disciplined, more responsive, and more trusted by the Filipinos."