I was put into office by the people who believed in my idea that corruption is the root of poverty; that an end to corruption would mean an end to poverty.

Part of my mandate is to curb corruption and streamline a cumbersome, graft-ridden bureaucracy, to put resources where they will provide the clearest results, and to untangle a complicated regulatory environment.

The Philippines is strategically located and blessed with the greatest resource: its people, who are hard-working, very loyal, and very adaptive.

The people want to go back to the time when democracy was in full bloom.

We don't get typhoons in December. They normally end by September. A typhoon happening in October is considered a late event.

I try to put myself in others' shoes: How does any country give up any sovereignty and expect to survive as a government? I don't think that any Philippine president, or any leader for that matter, can afford to give up any portion of territorial sovereignty. That would be political suicide.