Philippines’ Marcos asks cabinet secretaries to resign to enable reset

The sweeping directive comes just over a week after a disappointing midterm election for the administration, widely seen as a referendum on Marcos’ leadership.

“This is not about personalities — it’s about performance, alignment, and urgency,” Marcos said in a statement issued by the Presidential Communications Office.

Marcos failed to secure a sweep of Senate seats for his allies, signalling a divided legislative landscape heading into the second half of his single six-year term.

Candidates aligned with his estranged vice president, Sara Duterte, outperformed expectations in what many viewed as a proxy battle between the two camps.

“This is not business as usual,” Marcos said.

“The people have spoken, and they expect results — not politics, not excuses. We hear them, and we will act,” he said.

In stark contrast, Duterte enjoyed a significantly higher approval rating of 59 per cent.

Sentiment towards the government has soured due in part to a perceived failure to control inflation, a top concern of Filipino households, even though it has been back within the central bank’s two per cent to four per cent target range since August.