MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - President Benigno S. Aquino III said on Tuesday that the country is no longer the "sick man of Asia."
Aquino told businessmen in a forum that through the "political will" being exercised by his administration, things which were previously thought of as impossible now come into reality.
"Once upon a time, the consensus among you was that we were the sick man of Asia. The diagnosis for this illness was as simple as it seemed insurmountable: lack of political will; an entrenched system of corruption that could not be weeded out; and a feeling of utter impossibility among Filipinos and their leaders alike," he said.
But he said everything has changed.
"Let no one doubt that we are doing the three things which were previously thought of as impossible: we are calling people to account; we are putting closure to the controversies that had sapped our institutions of their vigor and diminished their legitimacy in the eyes of our countrymen; in other words, we are exercising political will," Aquino explained.
He said his government reformed the manner in which it allocates and dispenses public funds; in going after the thieves; and in collecting what the government is due.
"That is how we are fighting corruption and making a mark. We have fought the culture of naysaying and negativity and have given a sense of empowerment to our people, replacing the hopelessness of the past with a steadfast commitment to building a society that indeed works. We have put an end to business as usual and proclaimed a country open for real business," he added.
With the reforms that his administration has implemented, the President cited the recorded high Philippine Stock Exchange index, the thumbs up signs that the different respected international organizations have given to the country; and the renewed confidence from the global community as reflected through investments in the country, among others.
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