If he were to choose one big achievement, Aquino said this was the fact that Filipinos had new-found optimism when it was all hopelessness before.

“Right now, there’s a foreign government that calls us already mayabang and matapang (boastful and brave). How many of us thought we would be labeled the same two years down the line? How about exporting rice as a realizable goal by next year? They learned the lessons from us, they practiced the lessons we taught them and the end result is we had to depend on them to be able to feed ourselves,” Aquino said.

“To sum it all up, when I see our people smiling, when I see that there’s optimism, that there’s a light in their eyes where they used to be really just suffering, that I think is the best achievement and that will propel us to achieving even greater heights,” he said.

The President said he would use the people’s continuous optimism and support to be able to achieve the necessary reforms.

He said he would want the country to achieve its fullest potentials and that “journeying into uncharted waters” would convince the people that leaving their comfort zone redounds to maximizing their potentials.

“We wanted to reclaim our national pride to show the world that the Philippines is ready to take its rightful place in the community of nations; and so we are standing our ground, prepared to defend our dignity. This is what transformation entails; spreading our wings for the first time will cause some discomfort, but it only means that we are ready to take flight,” Aquino said.

In a little over four years, the President said he would be stepping down as president and “the only thing I want out of this position is to leave the country in a far better state than what I inherited, with a government unshackled from corruption and dishonesty, with a steadily growing economy that leaves no one behind, and with an empowered and engaged citizenry, much like yourselves, ready to take on the task of nation-building together. I’m certain that these are goals that we all share.”

“We are well on our way to achieving this. With a government that knows what it means to serve the public; with excellent men and women like you who know a thing or two about achieving dreams; and with the Filipino people, who have for so many years kept their hopes of a better country alive – we can pursue and fulfill our collective aspirations for this country,” he said.

“Let’s continue to work together. Let’s continue to believe in what this country can do. Let’s make the Philippines into what we all desire it to be: a country of potential fulfilled,” he said.

The President said it would be fair to say that those from the business sector could be counted as many of the biggest beneficiaries of reforms.

“It is reasonable to assume, for example, that you all have stocks. The improvements in your net worth have a direct and causal relationship with investor confidence in the country, which in large part, came about because anyone who has cared to look has seen the earnestness of our efforts to clean up government,” he said during the Business Forum of Joint Alumni Clubs of US Universities in Makati City on Wednesday night.

“And so to those of you who have actively participated in improving the lives of our people, to those whose dreams did not leave any of our countrymen behind, you have the gratitude of our people,” he said.

The President said building opportunities and empowering the people were the same principles that fueled the newfound vitality of the Philippines.

“Step by steady step, we have faced every obstacle head-on. We are all well aware that many of our problems have systemic roots and thus require systemic solutions. That is why I have always maintained that no individual, not even an administration, can go at it alone. Fixing the system requires contributions from all fronts,” Aquino said.

He cited the voluntary decision of the transport groups to roll back minimum jeepney fare to P8 after it was increased to P8.50.

“What they had is an emergency measure they gave back when it was no longer necessary. This was done without going through the tedious process of negotiations. Perhaps these 50 centavos, equivalent to an extra hundred or so pesos a day for the drivers, is not such a big amount for most of us here. But to those who have less in life, it can mean a few extra meals and they willingly gave this up in order to ease the burden on the common commuter,” Aquino said.

“This generosity, this openness and this willingness to cooperate will ensure our continued progress. I hope that I can count on the same from everyone here. If our jeepney drivers can contribute to society in such a way, perhaps I can expect even more from the captains of industry who hold the lives of so many Filipino workers in their hands,” he said.

The President assured them that transforming the status quo did not mean dragging down those who were at the top but lifting up those who had been dwelling at the bottom.

“Progress is not a zero-sum game; we want every Filipino – from those in offices in Ayala Avenue, to those in factories in far-flung provinces – to succeed,” the President further said.

“I have been waging the fight for reform for a long time now. There came a time when I was ready and willing to go to jail for standing up to a corrupt regime. Changing the status quo for the better comes with risks, but it also comes with long-term rewards. We wanted judicial certainty; and so we have to go through this process of reforming a system where the well-positioned few lorded it over the rest of us who asked for nothing more than a level playing field,” he said.