I didn't have any ambition to be president. It was fate. The people found me.

There is a theory that China will tend to push, and if you bend, they will push some more.

I've talked to so many people, so many institutions, about how China works.

I try to put myself in others' shoes: How does any country give up any sovereignty and expect to survive as a government? I don't think that any Philippine president, or any leader for that matter, can afford to give up any portion of territorial sovereignty. That would be political suicide.

I can try to convince somebody else of my beliefs, but I should not be imposing.

I believe nobody should be discriminated against.

My mother's style has always been consensus-generating.

I've been called 'hardheaded,' 'obstinate,' 'unreasonable,' etc.

In politics, you must learn to say 'no' without offending people. That is an art that one must master: to satisfy a person even when you have to say 'no' to him.

China itself has said repeatedly that they will and have been conforming to international law.