I was invited by President Bush to come to the United States on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the mutual defense treaty.

The Philippines and the U.S. have had a strong relationship with each other for a very long time now. We have a shared history. We have shared values, democracy, freedom, and we have been in all the wars together in modern history, the World War, Second World War, Cold War, Vietnam, Korea, now the war on terrorism.

The Philippines was with the U.S. in the Second World War, in the Korean War, in the Vietnam War, and now in the war against terrorism.

It is the civilian part of the politics that is very, very bad, and we have to change that.

I sow; my successor reaps. This is the majesty of democracy.

The military is faithful to the constitution. They will come in only to protect the people from the enemies of the state.

The people want government that works for them at every level. They want good government that begins at their doorstep in the barangay, and does not end before the closed door of a bureaucrat in Metro Manila.