Philippine President Benigno Aquino joined calls for the international community to lift punitive economic sanctions on Burma to encourage further reforms and prevent the country retreating on its democratic gains. Leaving Burma to make the crucial transition from military rule to democracy without international engagement risked rolling back the reform process, Aquino told reporters late on Tuesday. “We have to show the people who are reforming in Myanmar that the road they chose is the right road. There has to be a reward,” he said.