What role can the Philippines play in the Asian economic recovery?
Among the ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] countries, I was chosen as spokesman for the poor. That is my forte. Q: Your critics say that a lot of old buddies are back in your Administration… A: That’s not true. Among all my Cabinet members, only one is identified as being with the Administration of the late President [Ferdinand] Marcos. Only one, of 34 Cabinet members. Q: No, your buddies… A: No, no way. On the record, I have not a single friend who was able to get a single cent from any government institution. I can tell you that these are all lies. These are all critics who try to slander everything. These are baseless charges. I assure you that since I’ve assumed office, there is not one single friend who was able to get any loan from any government financial institution. Even the friend who owns Philippine Airlines. He was begging me to bail out Philippine Airlines because creditors were ganging up on Philippine Airlines. But sad to say, though he helped me during
