It had low debt to GDP ratio, healthy external accounts, manageable inflation, ample domestic liquidity, and stable banking system. All of these provided enough fiscal and monetary space to roll out massive response measures without causing debt woes. We learned our lessons from the Asian financial crisis.
As a result of that crisis, there was a deliberate and conscious effort to gradually transform the Philippines from the region’s laggard to one of its brightest spots. Hence, our strong fundamentals today are the result of a long and varied list of structural reforms implemented in the past twenty years. 1/6  BIS central bankers' speeches  Second, emergency response.