Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (born April 5, 1947) is the 14th and current president of the Philippines. She is the country's second female president after Corazon Aquino. She is the daughter of former President Diosdado Macapagal.

Prior to becoming president, Arroyo was the country's first female vice president. She was launched into the presidency in 2001 by the bloodless EDSA II Revolution that toppled Joseph Estrada from power amid accusations of widespread corruption. Arroyo was elected to a six-year term in 2004, defeating actor Fernando Poe, Jr..

In 2005, Arroyo was selected as the fourth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine.

Early life

Arroyo was born Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal to parents, politician Diosdado Macapagal and his wife, Evangelina Macaraeg Macapagal. She spent the first years of her life in Lubao, Pampanga with her two older siblings from her father's first marriage.Current Biography International Yearbook 2002 At the age of four, she became jealous of her newborn brother and she chose to live with her maternal grandmother in Iligan City.TIME Pacific | Glory, Gloria! | January 29, 2001 | NO. 4 She stayed there for three years, then split her time between Mindanao and Manila until the age of 11.

In 1961, when Arroyo was just 14 years old, her father was elected as president. She moved with her family into Malacañang Palace in Manila. She attended Assumption Convent for her elementary and high school education, graduating valedictorian in 1964. Arroyo then studied for two years at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C. where she was a classmate of former United States President Bill Clinton and achieved consistent Dean's list status.Gloria Arroyo, The Most Powerful Women - Forbes.com She then earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Assumption College, graduating magna cum laude in 1968.

In 1968, Arroyo married lawyer and businessman Jose Miguel Arroyo of Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, who she had met while still a teenager. They had three children, Juan Miguel (born 1969), Evangelina Lourdes (born 1971) and Diosdado Ignacio Jose Maria (born in 1974). She pursued a Master's Degree in Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University (1978) and a Doctorate Degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines (1985).Office of the President - Biography From 1977 to 1987, she held teaching positions in different schools, notably the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo De Manila University. She also became chairperson of the Economics Department at Assumption College.

In 1987 she was invited by President Corazon Aquino to join the government as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry. She was promoted to Undersecretary two years later. In her concurrent position as Executive Director of the Garments and Textile Export Board, Arroyo oversaw the rapid growth of the garment industry in the 1980s.

Senator

Although her father served as president of the Philippines, Arroyo did not enter politics until 1992, twenty-seven years after her father left office. She was elected to the Philippine Senate in 1992. She was re-elected in 1995, topping the senatorial elections with nearly 16 million votes, the highest number of votes received by any politician for any position in Philippine electoral history.

As a legislator, Arroyo filed over 400 bills and authored or sponsored 55 laws of economic importance during her tenure as senator, including the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law, the Indigenous People's Rights Law, and the Export Development Act.

Vice Presidency

In 1998, Arroyo briefly considered a run for the presidency but was convinced by President Fidel V. Ramos to join the ruling LAKAS Party as the running mate of its presidential candidate, House Speaker Jose De Venecia. De Venecia and Arroyo ran a nationwide campaign supported by Ramos and the powerful LAKAS machinery. Arroyo won as vice president with almost 13 million votes, more than twice the votes of her closest opponent, Senator Edgardo Angara. But De Venecia lost to the popular incumbent vice president, Joseph Estrada.

Arroyo began her term as Vice President on June 30, 1998. Shortly after, she was appointed by Estrada to the cabinet as Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, where her main duty was to oversee the government's social programs for the poor.

She resigned from the Cabinet in October 2000, distancing herself from President Estrada, who was accused of corruption by a former political supporter. Arroyo joined civil society and many Filipinos in calling for the president's resignation.

On January 20, 2001, after days of political turmoil and street protests, the Supreme Court declared the presidency vacant. The military and the national police had earlier withdrawn their allegiance to Estrada and shifted it to Arroyo. Arroyo was sworn in the same day as the 14th president of the Philippines by Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.

The ousting of Estrada would later be known as EDSA II, after the 1986 EDSA Revolution that brought down the administration of Ferdinand Marcos. EDSA is a reference to Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, a highway in metropolitan Manila that was the main site of the demonstrations.

Estrada later questioned the legitimacy of the High Court's declaration when he sought to reclaim the presidency but the Supreme Court upheld the legitimacy of Arroyo's succession. Although Estrada and his adherents never recognized Arroyo as the rightful president, she was still able to wield all the powers and privileges of the presidency.

Presidency

Succession in 2001

Arroyo's succession to the presidency in January 2001 united the country's then political opposition against the just deposed president Joseph Estrada, who was hounded with corruption charges. Despite the people's showing of support, and the recognition of Arroyo's mandate by the Supreme Court, Estrada and the rest of the opposition questioned Arroyo's legitimacy as president. Protesters numbering by the thousands marched to the presidential palace in May 1 and demanded Estrada, who had previously been arrested on charges of plunder, be released and reinstated. The protesters refused to be pacified and violence ensued. Arroyo responded by arresting protesters and prominent political leaders. Arroyo eventually stopped the protests and survived the first serious challenge of her adminisration, the first of many in the coming years. Support for the opposition and Estrada subsequently dwindled after the victory of administration allied candidates in the midterm elections that was held later that same month. Freed from the threats of a weakened opposition and guaranteed of support from both houses of Congress, the new Arroyo administration began to face it's biggest challenge--- reforming the country's struggling economy and corrupt government.

Arroyo outlined her vision for the country as "building a strong republic" throughout her tenure. Her agenda consists of building up a strong bureaucracy, lowering crime rates, increasing tax collection, improving economic growth, and intensifying counter-terrorism efforts.

Economy

Arroyo, a practicing economist, has made the economy the focus of her presidency. Economic growth in terms of gross domestic product has averaged 4.6% during the Arroyo presidency from 2001 up to the end of 2005. This is higher than previous recent presidents when compared to the 3.8% average of Aquino, the 3.7% average of Ramos, and the 2.8% average of Joseph Estrada. Inflation during the Arroyo presidency has also been the lowest since 1986, averaging 5.3%.The best president after Marcos

Late in 2001, Arroyo implemented her new policy which is officially called "Holiday Economics". Under this policy, the government will adjust holidays to form longer weekends (Example: If June 12 — Philippine Independence Day — is a Wednesday, the holiday will be moved to a Friday or a Monday to connect with the weekend). The primary purposes of this policy to strengthen the national economy through tourism and travel, and to give Filipinos more time to spend with their families. Holiday Economics began as an 11-day holiday in late 2001 from December 22, 2001 until January 1, 2002. The extensive holiday alienated many businessmen, workers and even sparked criticism among politicians. Among her allies who became critical of Holiday Economics was former president Fidel V. Ramos, who cited the loss of productivity as crucial as well as the fact that workers get deprived of their earnings. The policy went into full force in 2002 although critics claimed that it unnecessarily breaks certain traditions (Example: Labor Day must only be celebrated on May 1). Businessmen often complained that the government was always too slow and too late to announce when the holidays will take effect. To this day, people demand that a full-year schedule of holidays be released during the year before so that appropriate calendars can be printed well in advance.

Oakwood Mutiny

On July 27, 2003, Arroyo faced another rebellion when more than three hundred renegade junior officers and soldiers of the armed forces mutinied and seized a hotel and shopping mall in a business district in the capital. The mutineers surrendered after a 22 hour standoff upon reaching terms for their peaceful surrender.

2004 election

Despite announcing in Baguio City on December 30, 2002, that she would not contest the presidential elections of 2004, Arroyo changed her mind and decided to seek a new six-year term. During a large gathering in her home province of Pampanga, Arroyo declared that she had decided to "defer her retirement," citing the growing clamor from her supporters to run in the election. Because of this turnaround, her popularity rating suffered, but only temporarily as events were to turn out.

The 2004 election was seen as a chance for Arroyo to solidify the credibility of her administration, which was marred by questions of legitimacy since its 2001 rise to power. Arroyo fought a bitter campaign with the opposition candidate, Joseph Estrada's best friend, fellow popular film actor Fernando Poe, Jr. She was commonly seen as the intellectual heavyweight, as opposed to Poe, who did not finish high school. Other candidates were former Senator Raul Roco, Senator Panfilo Lacson, and evangelist Eduardo Villanueva.

Arroyo lagged behind Poe in the polls prior to the campaign season, but her popularity steadily climbed to surpass Poe's. This success was later attributed to her political machinery, the K4 Coalition dominated by the LAKAS Party (she assumed co-chairmanship of LAKAS with De Venecia in 2002); her choice of running mate, the popular senator, Noli De Castro; her endorsement by influential religious groups; and the loyal support of provinces such as Cebu and Pampanga, among others.

As predicted by the later polls, she won the presidential election in 2004, with a narrow margin of a million votes over her closest rival, Poe.

Allegations that her campaign funds used taxpayers' money emerged during the campaign when the national elections were in full swing. Arroyo's victory was marred by accusations of cheating from her rivals. Minor irregularities were discovered during the elections but cheating and corruption on a nationwide scale similar to events marring past national elections were not proven by the president's accusers.

Congress proclaimed Arroyo the winner of the election on June 24, 2004, more than a month after election day. This makes her only the fourth Philippine president to be elected while in office and only the third to a second term (Presidents Quirino and Garcia, serving the unexpired terms of their predecessors, were elected to the presidency in 1949 and 1957 respectively; Presidents Quezon and Marcos were reelected to second terms in 1941 and 1969 respectively).

She took her oath of office on June 30, 2004, on the island of Cebu, the first Philippine President to be inaugurated there. This was done in gratitude for the support given to her by the people of Cebu during the election. In a break with tradition, she delivered her inaugural address in Manila before departing for Cebu for her inauguration.

Iraq War

On July 20, 2004, President Arroyo ordered that the small contingent in Iraq sent by the Philippines be withdrawn immediately after Angelo de la Cruz was taken hostage by the terrorist group headed by Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The Filipino contingent was scheduled to withdraw from Iraq in August of that year but the President withdrew earlier than expected, acceding to the kidnappers' demands in order to save the life of De La Cruz. President Arroyo said "…when it comes to showing off to the world, and the life of a Filipino citizen, the life of our citizens come first." Arroyo faced much international criticism for this, especially from the United States and members of the coalition in Iraq. Among her critics was Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who commented, "It is not showing off when you continue to fight in Iraq after a terrorist incident against your country. It is an international obligation that you are expected to fulfil." Arroyo later countered this statement by saying that the U.S. government and others in the coalition in Iraq "held no regard for the lives of their citizens" .

Other scandals

In August 2003, Jose Miguel Arroyo, the presidents's husband and first gentleman, was accused of corruption by the political opposition. Jose Miguel Arroyo was accused of siphoning off campaign funds and contributions to a bank account under the fictitious name of "Jose Pidal", aside from rampant speculation that he cheated on his wife. The accusations were never legally substantiated but left the president frustrated and very angry with her husband. The two are now reconciled.

Election rigging allegations

In the middle of 2005, Samuel Ong who is a former deputy director of the country's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) claimed to have audio tapes of wiretapped conversations between President Arroyo and an official of the Commission on Elections. The contents of the tape allegedly proved, according to Ong, that the 2004 national election was rigged by Arroyo in order to win by around one (1) million votes. (see partial transcript of alleged conversations). On June 27, Arroyo admitted to inappropriately speaking to a Comelec official, claiming it was a mere "lapse in judgement", but denied influencing the outcome of the election. Attempts to impeach Arroyo failed later that year.

Executive Order No. 464 and Calibrated Preemptive Response

Since late September, Arroyo issued an executive order stating that all demonstrations without permits would be pre-emptively stopped. Then members of the military testified in Congressional hearings that they were defying a direct order not to testify about their knowledge of the election scandal. The opposition and militant groups have accused the Arroyo administration of moving towards an undeclared version of martial law. The "no permit, no rally" policy followed by the Calibrated Preemptive Response policy are both aimed at regulating street rallies. There is also the issuance of Executive Order No. 464 forbidding government officials under the executive department from appearing in congressional inquiries without Ms Arroyo's prior consent. [http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=52433index=2&story_id=53595&col=69 These measures were challenged before the Supreme Court, which declared them unconstitutional.

State of Emergency

On Friday, February 24, 2006, an alleged coup d'état plot was uncovered in the Philippines, headed by General Lim and other rightist military adventurist.

The declaration of PP 1017 gave Gloria Macapagal Arroyo the power to issue warrantless arrests and to take over private institutions that run public utilities.

The President, through the Department of Education, suspended all classes in elementary and high school levels. Some colleges and universities also suspended classes. Some international schools did not because they found out too late. By the virtue of Proclamation No. 1017, she declared a State of Emergency for the whole country in an attempt to quell rebellion, stop lawless violence and promote peace and stability, which many fear might be a prelude to the institution of martial law. The government's first move after declaring the State of Emergency was to disperse demonstrators, particularly the groups picketing along EDSA. It was reported that former Philippine president Corazon Aquino was among those that protested, along with leftist and extreme right activists. A number of public figures were reported to have been arrested.

After the foiling of the plot and the dispersal of the rallies, PP 1017 continued for a week on threats of military plots (such as the military stand-off of Feb. 26 at Fort Bonifacio headed by Col. Ariel Querubin.), violence, illegal rallies and public disturbance.

The declaration was used to justify a crackdown on leftist political leaders as well as raids on the offices of some media outfits. Five party-list representatives (Satur Ocampo, Teodoro Casiño, and Joel Virador of Bayan Muna, Liza Maza of Gabriela, and Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis) were charged with rebellion. To avoid arrest, the five found shelter at the Batasan Complex.

On the Saturday of Feb. 25, the office of the Daily Tribune, a newspaper known as a hard-hitting critic of the Arroyo administration, was raided. The raid created a chilling effect. Media practitioners felt threatened by what was perceived as a form of "creeping Martial Law," with freedom of the press and expression, and the right to information once more under fire. After the raid, an issuance of Journalism Guideline followed, authored by the government in order to cope with the "present abnormal situation" said Chief of Staff Michael Defensor.

The decree was lifted on March 3, 2006. However the opposition, lawyers, and concerned citizens filed a complaint in the Supreme Court contesting the constitutionality of PP 1017. The court, on May 4, declared the proclamation constitutional. However, the court also said it was illegal to issue warrantless arrests and seize private institutions.

Human rights

In May 2006, Amnesty International reported a growing concern over human rights violations committed under the Arroyo administration, particularly the deaths of 605 people including dozens of journalists, making the Philippines the second deadliest country for reporters, after Iraq. The report also criticizes the militarization of areas under General Palparan in Cebu, Mindoro and Central Luzon. ^*

Many of these violations are done towards left-leaning progressive organizations and partylists including Bayan, Bayan Muna and Anakpawis. These organizations accuse the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Military for the deaths of these progressives.

Trivia

In a series of 100-peso bills, her name was misspelled "Arrovo"; some bills were released, but most were withdrawn from circulation.

References

External links

Office of the President of the Philippines
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Official Website
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Forum
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Fan page

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