I know the pain of having to deal with terrorism. And that's why, after 9-11, I was one of the first to join the international coalition to fight terrorism.

The Iraqi regime was supporting terrorist cells all over the world. We had to expel three Iraqi diplomats from the Philippines because of evidence that they were either in touch with Abu Sayyaf or doing their own espionage.

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.

I was at Ground Zero, and it was, to me, such a graphic illustration of what terrorism has done to our world.

I feel that if I am freed of the burden of politics, then I can do more, and I can take more unpopular decisions.

It's never right to fight terror with terror.

My responsibility as president is to take care to solve the problems we are facing now and to provide a vision and direction for how our nation should advance in the future.

As the leader of the nation, I say in behalf of the Filipino people to the world: we are strong and principled believers in democracy.

The Philippines has no policy that demands sacrifice of human lives.

I want to create economic opportunity at home and abroad. I don't want just one or the other. I want both.

Chronic deficits drastically reduce government's ability to make those infrastructure investments that business needs to grow and create jobs.

Our investments in social justice and basic needs are as vital to our future as fiscal and macroeconomic reforms. A nation deeply divided will not stand. And it certainly will not move forward.

I ask the educational system, the parents, the church, and pillars of the community to help shape a new culture of honesty, patriotism, respect, discipline and service for young Filipinos.

The roof cannot collapse when the value pillars of government and society are sound and strong.

We will downsize the government, motivate excess employees to become entrepreneurs, and increase the pay of a lean and mean bureaucracy.

By and large, our political system has betrayed its promise to each new generation of Filipinos, not a few of whom are voting with their feet, going abroad and leaving that system behind.

In the area of national security, I urge the swift passage of an anti-terrorism law that will protect rather than subvert, enhance rather than weaken, the rights and liberties that terrorism precisely threatens with extinction.

We may disagree among ourselves, but let us never lose sight of that greater battle for one people, one country, one Philippines.

The people want government that works for them at every level.

To our men and women in the armed services, the huge and deep core of your loyalty has earned the nation's accolade.

Camiguin, Romblon and Camarines Norte got out of the list of poorest provinces in 2003. With tourism, these provinces can become rich.

We have scaled the heights of Mount Everest, dominated the Southeast Asian games, we have won international beauty titles, and of course punched our way to triumph in the boxing world. Our people compete and win every day in every imaginable job throughout the world.

For those who want to pick up old fights, we're game, but what a waste of time. Why not join hands instead? Join hands in the biggest challenge of all, where we all win, or we all lose: the battle for the survival and progress of our one and only country.

Individually, we've taken the world on and won; together, we must take on the challenge of creating a new, peaceful, humane and competitive nation and prevail.

The Philippines ranks among top off-shoring hubs in the world because of cost competitiveness and, more importantly, our highly trainable, English proficient, IT-enabled management and manpower.

We fight terrorism. It threatens our sovereign, democratic, compassionate and decent way of life.

We must weed out corruption and build a strong system of justice that the people can trust.

I stand in the way of no one's ambition. I only ask that no one stand in the way of the people's well being and the nation's progress.

Nature did not gift us with a mighty Mekong like Thailand and Vietnam, with their vast and naturally fertile plains. Nature instead put our islands ahead of our neighbours in the path of typhoons from the Pacific.

Better talk than fight, if nothing of sovereign value is anyway lost. Dialogue has achieved more than confrontation in many parts of the world.

As your president, I care too much about this nation to let anyone stand in the way of our people's wellbeing.

I did not become president to be popular. To work, to lead, to protect and preserve our country, our people, that is why I became president.

As a country in the path of typhoons and in the Pacific Rim of Fire, we must be prepared as the latest technology permits to anticipate natural calamities when that is possible, to extend immediate and effective relief when it is not.

Real government is about looking beyond the vested to the national interest, setting up the necessary conditions to enable the next, more enabled and more empowered generation to achieve a country as prosperous, a people as content, as ours deserve to be.

However much a president wishes it, a national problem cannot be knocked out with a single punch. A president must work with the problem as much as against it, turn it into a solution if she can.

There isn't a day I do not work at my job, or a waking moment when I do not think through a work-related problem. Even my critics cannot begrudge the long hours I put in. Our people deserve a government that works just as hard as they do.

A president must be on the job 24/7, ready for any contingency, any crisis, anywhere, anytime.

As I have shown, I will defend democracy with arms when it is threatened by violence; with firmness when it is weakened by division; with law and order when it is subverted by anarchy; and always, I will try to sustain it by wise policies of economic progress so that a democracy means not just an empty liberty, but a full life for all.