Bagong Pilipinas was officially launched with a
kick-off rally on January 28, 2024, at the
Quirino Grandstand in
Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It was attended by about 400,000 supporters with participation of
Vice PresidentSara Duterte, other Malacañang key officials, and
Manila MayorHoney Lacuna.[4][5] The rally was streamed online to engage a wider audience beyond Manila.[6]
Build Better More – The infrastructure program of the Marcos administration (2022-2028), which superseded the
Build! Build! Build! program of the
Duterte administration. There are a total of 194 infrastructure projects, ranging from public transport, power, health, information technology, water resources, and agriculture.[9][10] 77 of those project were carried from past administrations while 123 are “new and initiated” by the Marcos administration.[11] The total cost for the Build Better More program is ₱9 trillion.[11]
Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino – The national housing program of the Philippines which was launched in 2022, with a goal of zero informal settlers by 2028. The Marcos administration is targeting to build around 1 million housing units annually until 2028.
Kick-off rally
Several government services are made available for free to the public during the event such as the
registration to the national ID, civil registration services,
PRC exam application, police clearance for first-time jobseekers, drug test, neuropsychiatric test, notary and gun safety seminar as well as the issuance of the License to Own and Possess Firearm, housing loan application, etc.[12]
Required attendance
About two weeks before the rally, the
Office of the President released Memorandum Circular No. 42, "directing" all national government agencies to "attend, participate, and provide full support to the 'Bagong Pilipinas' official campaign kickoff rally". Each line agency was ordered to send at least 1,000 participants, and several agencies also said compensatory time-offs and/or various giveaways would be given to their employees who attend.[13]
Senator
Risa Hontiveros criticized the rally as a front for the
People's Initiative (PI) signature drive to amend the Constitution.[15] The rally was also called by progressive groups as a "waste of people's resources" and "an expensive PR [public relations] blitz to cover up the crisis the country is facing".[16] A few hours after the Bagong Pilipinas rally, a prayer rally was held in
Davao City, attended by former president
Rodrigo Duterte, Vice President
Sara Duterte, and Senator
Imee Marcos, denouncing ongoing PI efforts.[17]
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan criticized the government for allocating nearly ₱24 million for the kick-off rally "like there’s no crisis." According to bidding documents, ₱16.4 million of the budget went to technical equipment rental, while the remaining ₱7.59 million went to tokens and collateral.[18] An additional ₱5.3 million was also initially allocated by the
Presidential Communications Office for entertainment services, but the bidding didn't push through.[19]