MANILA — Outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte met with members of his Cabinet for the last time on Thursday morning before he stepped out of Malacañang.

According to Sen. Bong Go, the Philippines' 16th chief executive thanked the officials for helping him serve the country in the past 6 years.

Duterte, 77, and his Cabinet also looked back on the challenges they had encountered, and their accomplishments, he added. Go was Duterte's special assistant before he became senator in 2019.

"Well... I am a student of government. Alam mo matagal ako sa gobyerno. I think I assembled one of the best Cabinet... Totoo. Piling-pili ko," Duterte said in a video message taken during their final gathering, and shared to the press by his acting spokesman and Communications Secretary, Martin Andanar.

As his term came to a close, Duterte urged the public to support the administration of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

"Let us give all our support to the new administratiuon. Tulungan natin sila. Tulungan natin si Marcos," he said of his successor he once called a spoiled child and weak leader.

• Duterte says daughter Sara's running-mate Marcos is 'spoiled, weak leader'

Duterte's daughter, Sara, was Marcos' running mate in the May elections. She was sworn in as the country's 15th Vice President last June 19 in Davao City.

Marcos formally assumed the presidency Thursday noon.

While the Duterte administration trumpeted its major infrastructure projects and some health-related programs as among its accomplishments, it has also been widely criticized for its alleged disregard for human rights in carrying out the drug war, the red-tagging by some of its officials, and several other issues.

• Back in power: Marcos Jr. sworn in as 17th Philippine president