"On top of peace and investment, progress also demands good governance. I congratulate Donkoy Emano for the drop in reports of corruption for public contracts in Cagayan de Oro from 65% of firms last year to 38 this year. Also Rudy Duterte and the other leaders of Metro Davao led by Majority Leader Boy Nograles for a similar drop, 57% last year to 49 now. Things are coming together for Mindanao, a prelude to their readiness for eventual federalism."

"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."

"We have been fighting the longest running communist insurgency in history. We have been coming to grips with fundamentalist terrorism long before 9/11."

"I am sorry."

"Less Than Two Months After The State Of The Nation Address, On 9/11/2001, The World Changed. To the Basic Desires of Work, Food on Every Table, Home, and Education, We Add Peace."

"Inspired by the great plebeian, my father, President Diosdado Macapagal, promulgated the Land Reform Law to emancipate the peasant from a feudal bondage to the soil."

"In 1986 Filipinos peacefully reclaimed their civil liberties in the people power revolution. Under the leadership of Corazon Aquino, we reaffirmed our commitment to freedom and democracy on a mere stretch of highway — with hardly a drop of blood shed or a shot fired in anger."

"Land for the landless was the battle cry of the late President Diosdado Macapagal, which his daughter espoused and followed in her presidency. Her administration distributed millions of hectares in private, public and ancestral lands to landless farmers and indigenous communities."

"The Philippines had to take the necessary bolder steps forward in the next six years. It was under this milieu that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo unveiled in her inauguration in 2004 a 10-Point Legacy that included gaming the budget deficit, providing sufficient infrastructure and efficient delivery of services, decentralized development and livelihood promotion, computerization of elections, and arriving at sustained national harmony."

"Victory is a powerful word, but it often reeks of pride and hubris. Vengeance is sweet, but it is hateful. Vindication is my preferred word."

"E-VAT was the centerpiece of perhaps the greatest and most long-playing achievement of my presidency, fiscal reform management."

"Machinery is often of little value when the administration's standard bearer is behind in the surveys."