President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he made "structural changes" this year as he already found the most qualified individuals to fill in government jobs under his administration.

In his recent media interview with the Philippine media delegation in Japan, Marcos said he has hired the best people for his Cabinet this year.

"Equally importantly that we are beginning to find the best people for each of those positions," Marcos said.

He added that he was also able to "remodel" the Philippine economy to shift policies away from the COVID-19 economy.

Marcos underscored the importance of reforms in laying a foundation for sustainable progress.

"We had to readjust our fiscal, monetary, and spending policies to move away from the Covid-19 economy," Marcos said.

He pointed to changes in the tax structure, fiscal and monetary policies, and improvements in the ease of doing business as early signs of positive impact.

He pointed to tax reforms and revamped agency structures as examples of crucial changes already underway, with their full impact expected to be felt more keenly next year.

"Those structural changes should start to — well, they already have but they will even have a greater effect in 2024 than they did in 2023," Marcos explained.

Marcos' goals for 2024

On his outlook for 2024, Marcos reiterated his long-term goals for government modernization and adapting to the new economic landscape.

"It doesn't really change that we will continue to modernize. Some of our government structures are becoming quite obsolete. We continue to be responsive to the new economy, that we position ourselves properly," Marcos said.

Besides that, Marcos said the country was going in the right direction and that he thought the structural changes made this year would have a bigger impact than they did.

Acknowledging public impatience, Marcos pledged to maintain a proactive approach, urging his administration to "keep pushing and pushing and pushing to attain the goals" to see the results of this year's changes.