Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Template:Infobox Philippine president 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 (1910-1997) and his wife, Evangelina Macaraeg-Macapagal (1915-1999). She was 14 years old when her father was elected as president.
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. She then earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Assumption College, graduating magna cum laude in 1968.
Upon returning to the Philippines, Arroyo pursued a Master's Degree in Economics from the Ateneo de Manila University and a Doctorate Degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines.
Arroyo married Jose Miguel Arroyo in 1968. They had three children, Juan Miguel, who was born in 1969, Evangelina Lourdes, who was born 1971) and Diosdado Ignacio Jose Maria, who was born in 1974.
From 1977 to 1987, Arroyo 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.
Entry into politics
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 and was reelected in 1995, topping the senatorial elections with nearly 16 million votes.
As a legislator, Arroyo filed over 400 bills and authored or sponsored 55 laws of economic importance during her tenure as senator.
In 1998, she 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.
Vice-Presidency
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
First Period: 2001–2004
Arroyo's succession to the presidency divided the country between her and Estrada's supporters and as such her first term was hounded by questions of illegitimacy from the political opposition, even though the Supreme Court had already decided on the matter. On the other hand, the overwhelming victory of her political allies and the rejection of many Estrada-affiliated politicians in the elections of May 2004 was considered by many to be recognition of her presidency by the electorate.
Her biggest challenge was to reform a government perennially perceived to be corrupt. She found it hard to fulfil this daunting task because of attempts by Estrada's supporters and her political enemies to undermine her leadership.
On May 1, 2001, thousands of supporters of the deposed president marched to the presidential palace and demanded that Estrada, who had previously been arrested on charges of plunder, be released and reinstated. The protesters refused to be pacified and violence ensued. Arroyo declared a State of Rebellion and many protesters, including prominent political leaders, were arrested. The State of Rebellion was lifted after a few days, when the threat to Arroyo's government had died down. This unsuccessful attempt to unseat Arroyo was dubbed by some "EDSA III".
Jose Pidal
On August 2003, Arroyo's husband, Jose Miguel, was accused of corruption by Senator Panfilo Lacson. The senator alleged that the First Gentleman siphoned off campaign funds and contributions to a bank account under the fictitious name of "Jose Pidal". In addition, the staunch critic showed real life photos of the First Gentleman "romancing" with associate Victoria Toh. As a result, speculation that "Mike" Arroyo had cheated on his wife became rampant around the nation. Lacson's presentation is remembered for the line "Alam ba ni misis 'Toh?" (Toh in reference to Victoria Toh).
The accusations were never legally substantiated but left the president frustrated and very angry with her husband. Several weeks after the Jose Pidal presentation, Mike Arroyo presented his wife with a bouquet of flowers at a press conference as a sign that they were now reconciled.
Holiday Economics
Late in 2001, Arroyo implemented her new policy which would later be called as "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) and promote local tourism. 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.
Arroyo stressed the following as the main purposes of the Holiday Economics policy:
- To enable Filipinos to spend more time with their family.
- To strengthen the Philippine economy by promoting domestic travel and tourism
In late August 2005, businesses and the general public found themselves victims of a "holiday ambush" as the Arroyo administration declared a sudden holiday on August 29, a Monday (in celebration of national heroes). As late as August 26 (Friday), press secretary Ignacio Bunye claimed that no holiday would be declared, only to retract this pronouncement less than 24 hours later. That same weekend, the holiday was declared as a "working holiday".
When August 29 arrived, people were surprised to see some businesses closed as well as all government offices shut down. As a result, lawyers, labor unions and business leaders organized their own private meetings or gatherings and appealed to Arroyo to put an end to her Holiday Economics policy, which they claimed was more harmful than good. Some believed that the administration declared August 29 as a rushed holiday out of panic due to the fact that Congress was all set to debate and vote on the then-pending impeachment case against Arroyo, which happened on September 5 and 6.
While Arroyo did not declare an expected 8-day holiday in December 2005 (December 26 and 30 were holidays but December 27, 28 and 29 were work days), many critics pointed at the Holiday Economics strategy as the main culprit behind the decline of the holiday retail sales all over the country. Retailers around the Philippines reported a 15% fall in their December 2005 sales compared to December 2004. Analysts stressed that because of numerous holidays declared throughout 2005, people who went on holiday spent too much on tourism and had not much money left for the holiday season.
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 of May 10, 2004, with a margin of more than 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.
Second period: 2004–present
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.
The De Castro–Soliman issue
Issues of political patronage immediately began to swirl around the president when rumors that VP-elect Noli de Castro would be taking over as Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, replacing incumbent Secretary Dinky Soliman. Soliman, an ardent supporter of President Arroyo during the campaign in the urban poor areas, announced in a tearful press conference that she felt betrayed. Several weeks later, De Castro formally said he would not accept the DSWD post.
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" .
Election rigging scandal
On June 10, Samuel Ong, 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.
On July 8, ten appointed cabinet officials filed their resignation and asked the president to do the same. Later that day, several members of the Liberal Party and former president Corazon Aquino, both former allies of the president, joined calls for her resignation. Arroyo again affirmed her rejection of these calls.
Former president Fidel Ramos has remained an ally of Arroyo, strongly rejecting calls for her to resign and suggesting an immediate constitutional change which would shift the Philippines from a unitary-presidential system of government to a federal-parliamentary system.
In September 2005, the House of Representatives voted 158 to 51 effectively killing the impeachment case against Arroyo, citing it as "insufficient in substance". Despite their promises, the political opposition failed to deliver the 79 votes needed to transmit the case to the Senate. Even key members of the opposition failed to vote due to absence while some simply changed their minds at the last minute.
Despite the House vote, Arroyo's government still faces an unrelenting opposition which continues to organize street rallies and media protests even at the expense of economic progress. Former president Corazon Aquino, a key Arroyo ally in the 2001 People Power Revolution (EDSA II), sided with the opposition leading the rallies on the street.
Immediately after the House killed the impeachment complaints, the Social Weather Station (SWS) released a series of polls suggesting that the public continues to be unconvinced about Arroyo's standing in government. 79% of respondents wanted the president impeached over her telephone conversation with an election official. 64% said they wanted Arroyo to resign while 51% would support a 'people power' revolt to remove her from office.
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. [1] [2]
Declaration of a 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 arrest, take over private institutions that run public utilities.
The President, through the Department of Education, declared a moratorium on all classes from elementary to high school level. 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 the demonstrators, particularly the groups picketing along EDSA. It is reported that former Philippine president Corazon Aquino is among those protesting, along with leftist and extreme right activist. Activist and public figures was 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, illigal rallies and public disturbance.
The declaration created a series of crackdown on leftist political leaders as well as to the continued restraint on the media. Five party-list representatives(Satur Ocampo, Teodoro Casiño, and Joel Virador of Bayan Muna, Liza Maza of Gabriela, and Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis) was charged with rebellion charges. The five found shelter at the Batasan Complex to avoid arrest with the use of house speaker De Venecia's office.
On the Saturday of Feb. 25, the office of Daily Tribune newspaper was raided. A newspaper known as a hard-hitting critic of the Arroyo administration. It created a chilling effect. Thus media practioners felt threatened for a creeping Martial Law, that the Freedom of the Press, Expression, and the Right of Information, was once more under fire. After the raid, an issuance of Journalism Guideline followed, authored by the government in order to cope up 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 regarding the constitutionality of PP 1017. The court, on May 4, declared the proclamation as constitutional. However, the court said that it was illegal for her to guarantee warrantless arrest and seize private institutions.
Economy
Arroyo 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 the 3.8% average of President Aquino, the 3.7% average of President Ramos, and the 2.8% average of President Joseph Estrada. Inflation during the Arroyo presidency has also been the lowest of the post-Marcos presidents, averaging 5.3%.
References
- Zaide, Sonia M. (1999). The Philippines: A Unique Nation. All Nations Publishing. ISBN 971-642-071-4.
- Arroyo presidency economic data
Trivia
- In a series of new 500 peso bills, her name was misspelled "Arrovo"
External links
- [3] editor
- Gloria Arroyo Official Site
- Gloria Arroyo Gloria Arroyo Forum
- Gloria Arroyo President Gloria Arroyo Fansite
- Gloria ArroyoGloria Arroyo Website
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