Bill Clinton heaped praise on the Philippines while sharing the stage with his former George Washington University classmate, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Mr Clinton said the Philippines led the field in the amount of electricity generated from geothermal sources.
He also said its harnessing of private enterprise could be a model for Asia. As to its 'very high credit rating', he said it would be helpful to ask how Filipinos were affected by the financial crisis. Mrs Arroyo said her government was doing all it could to keep the crisis at bay.
She said it made 'hard choices' seven years ago to raise revenues by imposing a sales tax, and more recently was able to subsidise the price of rice for the poor.
She said transport groups were helped so they did not impose large increases in fares.
Outside the Grand Hyatt, Filipino protesters led by Dolores Balladares of United Filipinos described Mrs Arroyo - who is accused of corruption - as a 'model of lies'. Mrs Arroyo evaded the protest, and was taken to a closed-door meeting with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar at the Shangri-La Hotel.
