President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday ordered the biweekly monitoring of government agencies and their respective projects to ensure steady progress and accountability, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said.

In a press conference, Castro said the President directed that agencies’ accomplishments and project developments be reviewed every two weeks to prevent delays and inaccurate reporting.

“Pinag-uutos din ni Pangulong Marcos Jr. ang pagmomonitor sa mga ahensya at kanilang mga proyekto kada dalawang linggo para matiyak ang progreso nito,” Castro said.

She added that the President was firm in his instruction: “Huwag ninyong subukang magbigay ng maling report.”

According to Castro, the directive was also meant to address previous incidents in which agencies reported accomplishments that were later found to have been either unfinished or not even started.

She stressed that officials were reminded not to misrepresent project status in their submissions to the President.

When asked whether there would be a mechanism to double-check the accuracy of reports submitted by agencies and who would be responsible for validating them, Castro said, “Gagawin pa lang po yan kasi napag-usapan lamang po kanina yan. At yan po ang nais ng Pangulo moving forward at kailangan hindi lang basta move forward, kung hindi dapat na mas maging maayos ang pagrereport ng bawat ahensya na may mga proyekto. 'Yan ang gusto po ng Pangulo.”

Castro clarified that the President’s warning against false reporting was addressed to all officials present in the meeting.

“Kapag ka nagkaroon ng report, ayaw niya po na dahil lang sa magkakaroon ng monitoring every two weeks, ay maliin ang report o papogiin ang report. So ayaw po ng Pangulo na maling report,” she said.

On possible consequences for submitting inaccurate or unauthentic reports, Castro said sanctions would depend on the circumstances.

“Wala, depende mo yan. Ito ba ay in good faith? Ito ba ay negligence? Ito ba ay sinadya?” she said.

“So definitely pag sinadya ito, may kaakibat na parusa ito. Maaaring sila matanggal sa kanilang pwesto. Kung negligent naman, ganun din po ang mangyayari dahil bilang isang public servant, walang puwang na tayo ay maging negligent. Hanggang maari, pagbutihin ang trabaho para sa bayan.”