Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (April 5, 1947) is the fourteenth and current president of the Philippines. Arroyo is the country's second female president, she is also the daughter of late former Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal and is of the royal blood due to ancestral lineage tracing her to Don Juan Macapagal, a great-grandson of Lakandula the last reigning Rajah (King) of Saludung. A professor of economics, Arroyo entered government in 1987, serving as assistant secretary and undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry upon the invitation of President Corazon Aquino. After serving as a senator from 1992 to 1998, she was elected to the vice presidency under President Joseph Estrada, despite having run on an opposing ticket. After Estrada was accused of corruption, she resigned her cabinet position as Secretary of Social Welfare and Development and joined the growing opposition to the president, who faced impeachment. Estrada was soon forced from office by what its advocates would ascribe to peaceful street demonstrations of the EDSA Revolution of 2001, but which critics credit to a conspiracy among political and business elites, military top brass and Catholic Church bishop Jaime Cardinal Sin. Arroyo was sworn into the presidency by then-Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. at around noon on January 20, 2001 amidst the EDSA II crowd, hours before Estrada left Malacañang. She was elected to a full six-year presidential term in the controversial May 2004 Philippine elections, and was sworn in on June 30, 2004. Arroyo is nearing her 10th year in power and is currently serving the 2nd longest presidential term in Philippine history, next to Ferdinand Marcos. In the 2009 rankings of Most Powerful Women by Forbes, she was ranked as the 44th most powerful woman in the world. Early lifeShe was born as Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal to politician Diosdado Macapagal and his wife, Evangelina Macaraeg-Macapagal. She is the sister of Dr. Diosdado "Boboy" Macapagal, Jr. & Cielo Macapagal-Salgado. She spent the first years of her life in Lubao, Pampanga with her two older siblings from her father's first marriage. At the age of four, she chose to live with her maternal grandmother in Iligan City. She stayed there for three years, then split her time between Mindanao and Manila until the age of 11. [ She is fluent in English, Tagalog, Spanish and several other Philippine languages, most importantly, Kapampangan, Ilokano (learned from her mother), and Cebuano (learned from living in Iligan City, Mindanao, where the language is lingua franca).]
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. A municipality was named in her honor, Gloria, Oriental Mindoro. 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 Walsh School of Foreign Service in Washington, D.C. where she was a classmate of future 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.
In 1968, Arroyo married lawyer and businessman Jose Miguel Arroyo of Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, whom 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 at the Ateneo de Manila University (1978) and a Doctorate Degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines (1985). From 1977 to 1987, she held teaching positions in different schools, notably the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University. She 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 late 1980s.SenatorArroyo entered politics in the 1992 election, running for senator. At the first general election under the 1987 Constitution, the top twelve vote-getting senatorial candidates would win a six-year term, and the next twelve candidates would win a three-year term. Arroyo ranked 13th in the elections, earning a three-year term. She was re-elected 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 during her tenure as senator, including the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law, the Indigenous People's Rights Law, and the Export Development Act.
The 1995 Mining Act, which allows 100% foreign ownership of Philippine mines, has come under fire from left-wing political groups.Vice PresidencyArroyo considered a run for the presidency in the 1998 election, but was persuaded by President Fidel V. Ramos and leaders of the administration party Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats to instead seek the vice-presidency as the running mate of its presidential candidate, House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr.
Arroyo began her term as Vice President on June 30, 1998. Historically, she was the first and only to date female Vice President of the Philippines. She was appointed by Estrada to a concurrent position in the cabinet as Secretary of Social Welfare and Development.
Arroyo resigned from the cabinet in October 2000, distancing herself from President Estrada, who was accused of corruption by a former political supporter, Chavit Singson, Governor from Ilocos Sur.[Estrada v. Arroyo, (2001)] She had initially resisted pressure from allies to speak out against Estrada, but eventually joined calls for Estrada's resignation.PresidencyFirst Term (2001-2004)Succession
Arroyo's ascent to the Philippine presidency in 2001 is mired in controversy as much as the ouster of her predecessor with which it is intertwined. On January 20, 2001, after days of political turmoil and popular revolt, the Supreme Court declared the presidency vacant. The military and the national police had earlier withdrawn their support for Estrada. At noon, Arroyo was sworn in as President of the Philippines by Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr.
While the local media and its proponents hailed EDSA II as another peaceful "People Power," international views expressed through the international media described it as a conspiracy to oust Estrada and install Arroyo as president. The New York Times writes that Southeast Asia-based political economist William Overholt called it as "either being called mob rule or mob rule as a cover for a well- planned coup." The International Herald Tribune reports how the "opportunist coalition of church, business elite and left... orchestrated the 'People Power II movement."' On Arroyo's proclamation as President, Former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew opined that there is "an assumption of power here which isn't in the constitution."
Weeks later, Estrada filed a lawsuit challenging the legal basis of the Arroyo presidency and insisting he remained the lawful president, though adding he would not try to reclaim his post. The Supreme Court issued its decision on March 2, 2001, asserting that Estrada had resigned the presidency and relinquished his post.
On May 1, 2001, a week after Estrada was arrested on charges of plunder, an estimated 3,000,000 protesters sympathetic to Estrada degenerated into violence and attempted to storm the presidential palace to force Arroyo from office.
Support for the opposition and Estrada subsequently dwindled after the victory of administration allied candidates in the midterm elections that was held later that month. 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.Oakwood mutinyThe Oakwood mutiny occurred in the Philippines on July 27, 2003. A group of 321 armed soldiers who called themselves "Bagong Katipuneros"Second Term (2004-present)The 2004 election and subsequent rigging allegations Arroyo taking her Oath of Office in Cebu City on June 30, 2004.
Arroyo faced a tough election campaign in early 2004 against Estrada friend and popular actor Fernando Poe, Jr., senator and former police general Panfilo Lacson, former senator Raul Roco, and Christian evangelist Eddie Villanueva. Her campaign platform centered on a shift to a parliamentary and federal form of government, job creation, universal health insurance, anti-illegal drugs, and anti-terrorism.
Arroyo lagged behind Poe in the polls prior to the campaign season, but her popularity steadily climbed to surpass Poe's. As predicted by pre-election surveys and exit polls, she won the election by a margin of over a million votes against her closest rival, Fernando Poe, Jr.
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. According to Ong, the contents of the tape prove that the 2004 national election was rigged by Arroyo in order to win by around one million votes. On June 27, Arroyo admitted to inappropriately speaking to a Comelec official, claiming it was a "lapse in judgement", but denied influencing the outcome of the election. Attempts to impeach Arroyo failed later that year.
Two witnesses, Antonio Rasalan and Clinton Colcol, stepped forward in August 2006, claiming involvement in an alleged plot to alter the results for the May 2004 elections. Rasalan claimed that he was fully convinced that the election returns presented at the House of Representatives were manufactured and had replaced the original documents.
Colcol, a tabulator for the Commission on Elections (Comelec), said that Arroyo only received 1,445 votes, while Poe received 2,141 in South Upi, Maguindanao during the May 2004 elections.
On January 25, 2008, Pulse Asia survey (commissioned by Genuine Opposition (GO) per former Senator Sergio Osmeña III) stated that 58% percent of Filipinos in Mindanao believed that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cheated in the Philippine general election, 2004. 70% also "believed that because of recurring allegations of election fraud, the credibility of the balloting process in Mindanao was at a record low."State of EmergencyOn Friday, February 24, 2006, an alleged coup d'état plot was uncovered in the Philippines, headed by Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.
The declaration of Proclamation No. 1017 gave Gloria Macapagal Arroyo the power to issue warrantless (and until then unconstitutional) arrests and to take over private institutions that run public utilities.
The President, through the Department of Education, suspended classes in elementary and high school levels. In response, colleges and universities suspended classes. By virtue of PP 1017, she declared a State of Emergency for the whole country in an attempt to quell rebellion as her grip on power began to slip, to stop lawless violence and promote peace and stability. The government's first move after the declaration was to disperse demonstrators, particularly the groups picketing along EDSA. 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 February 26 at Fort Bonifacio headed by Col. Ariel Querubin), violence, illegal rallies and public disturbance.
Six leftist representatives - Satur Ocampo, Teodoro Casiño, and Joel Virador of Bayan Muna, Liza Maza of GABRIELA, and Crispin Beltran and Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis - were charged with rebellion. Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis was arrested on February 25 on charges of inciting to sedition and rebellion. To avoid further arrest, the other five found shelter at the Batasan Complex.
On Saturday, February 25, the office of the Daily Tribune, a newspaper known as a hard-hitting critic of the Arroyo administration, was raided. After the raid, an issuance of Journalism Guideline followed, authored by the government in order to cope with the "present abnormal situation", according to then Chief of Staff Michael Defensor. The move to suppress freedom of the press against the Daily Tribune was criticized by Reporters Without Borders.
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, but said it was illegal to issue warrantless arrests and seize private institutions.The Manila Peninsula RebellionThe Peninsula Manila Rebellion was a rebellion in the Philippines on November 29, 2007. Detained Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, General Lim and other Magdalo officials walked out of their trial and marched through the streets of Makati City, called for the ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and seized the second floor of The Peninsula Manila Hotel along Ayala Avenue. Former Vice-President Teofisto Guingona also joined the march to the hotel.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and Brigadier Gen. Danilo Lim surrendered to authorities after an armored personnel carrier rammed into the lobby of the hotel. Director Geary Barias declared that the standoff at the Manila Peninsula Hotel is over as Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim along with other junior officers agreed to leave the hotel and surrender to Barias after the 6 hour siege. There was difficulty getting out for a while due to the tear gas that was covering the area where they were hiding.
Days after the mutiny, the Makati City Regional Trial Court dismissed the rebellion charges against all the 14 civilians involved in the siege, and ordered their release.National Broadband Network ScandalThe Philippine National Broadband Network controversy is a political affair that centers upon allegations of corruption primarily involving Former Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Chairman Benjamin Abalos, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regarding the proposed government-managed National Broadband Network (NBN) for the Philippines and the awarding of its construction to the Chinese firm Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment Company Limited (ZTE), a telecommunications and networking equipment provider.
The issue has captivated Filipino politics since it erupted in Philippine media around August 2007, largely through the articles of newspaper columnist Jarius Bondoc of the Philippine Star. It has also taken an interesting turn of events, including the resignation of Abalos as COMELEC chairman, the alleged bribery of congressmen and provincial governors (dubbed as "Bribery in the Palace"), the unseating of Jose de Venecia, Jr. as House Speaker, and the alleged "kidnapping" of designated National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) consultant-turned-NBN/ZTE witness Rodolfo Noel "Jun" Lozada, Jr.Impeachment complaintsIn 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, impeachment complaints were filed against President Arroyo although none of the cases reached the required endorsement of 1/3 of the members for transmittal to and trial by the Senate.
On October 13, 2008, the 4th 97-page impeachment complaint against President Arroyo was filed at the House of Representatives of the Philippines with the required endorsements by Party list Representatives Satur Ocampo, Teodoro Casiño and Liza Maza. The complaint accuses Arroyo of corruption, extrajudicial killings, torture and illegal arrests. The impeachment further raised the issues on "national broadband network agreement with China, human rights violations, the Northrail project, the Mt. Diwalwal project, fertilizer fund scam, alleged bribery of members of the House, the swine scam under the Rural Credit Guarantee Corporation, and 2004 electoral fraud." The opposition complainants were Edita Burgos, Iloilo Vice Governor Rolex Suplico, Jose de Venecia III, Harry Roque, Armando Albarillo, a human rights victim, Roneo Clamor, Karapatan deputy secretary general, Josefina Lichauco, and representatives from civil society - Renato Constantino, Jr., Henri Kahn, Francisco Alcuaz, Rez Cortez, Virgilio Eustaquio, Jose Luis Alcuaz, Leah Navarro, Danilo Ramos, Concepcion Empeño, Elmer Labog, Armando Albarillo, Roneo Clamor, and Bebu Bulchand. The justice committee has 60 days to rule upon the complaint's sufficiency in form and substance. However, the opposition has only 28 House seats.
Under Sections 2 and 3, Article XI, Constitution of the Philippines, the House of Representatives of the Philippines has the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment against, the President, Vice President, members of the Supreme Court, members of the Constitutional Commissions (Commission on Elections, Commission on Audit), and the Ombudsman. When a third of its membership has endorsed the impeachment articles, it is then transmitted to the Senate of the Philippines which tries and decide, as impeachment tribunal, on the impeachment case.Economy President Arroyo, President Bush and other state leaders at the 2004 APEC Trade Summit
Whether the official economic figures are accurate, or how they translate to improving lives of the citizens, however, is debatable. Studies made by the United Nations (UN) and local survey research firms show worsening, instead of improving, poverty levels. A comparative 2008 UN report shows that the Philippines lags behind its Asian neighbors, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and China, in terms of poverty amelioration. The study reveals that from 2003 up to 2006, the number of poor Filipinos increased by 3.8 million, with poverty incidence being approximately three times higher in agricultural communities. With regards the problem of hunger, quarterly studies by the social polling research firm Social Weather Stations show that the number of Filipino households suffering from hunger has significantly increased during Arroyo's presidency. Her administration first set the record for hunger levels in March 2001, and beginning June 2004, broke the record again seven times. December 2008 figures saw the new record high of 23.7%, or approximately 4.3 million households, of Filipino families experiencing involuntary hunger.
A controversial expanded value added tax (e-VAT) law, considered the centerpiece of the Arroyo administration's economic reform agenda, was implemented in November 2005, aiming to complement revenue-raising efforts that could plug the country's large budget deficit. The country aims to balance the national budget by 2010. The tax measure boosted confidence in the government's fiscal capacity and helped to strengthen the Philippine peso, making it East Asia's best performing currency in 2005-06. The peso strengthened by nearly 20% in 2007, making it by far Asia's best performing currency for the year, a fact attributed to a combination of increased remittances from overseas Filipino workers and a strong domestic economy.
Annual inflation reached the 17-year high of 12.5 percent in August 2008, up from a record low of 2.8 percent registered in 2007. It eased to 8.8 percent in December 2008 as fuel and energy prices went down.
The managing director of the World Bank, Juan Jose Daboub, criticized the administration for not doing enough to curb corruption.
Early in her presidency, Arroyo implemented a controversial policy of holiday economics, adjusting holidays to form longer weekends with the purpose of boosting domestic tourism and allowing Filipinos more time with their families.International relations Number of trips on countries Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has visited as president. The deeper shade shows a higher number of trips. She has made over 80 trips abroad.
 Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with George W. Bush during the Arrival Ceremony at the White House South Lawn. [http://www.op.gov.ph/publications/srvision.pdf] In 2007, the Philippines was host to the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu City.
On August 21, 2007, Arroyo's administration asked the Senate of the Philippines to ratify a $4bn (£2bn) trade deal with Japan (signed on 2006 with the former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi), which would create more than 300,000 jobs (by specifically increasing local exports such as shrimp to Japan). Japan also promised to hire at least 1,000 Philippine nurses. The opposition-dominated senate objected on the ground that toxic wastes would be sent to the Philippines; the government denied this due to the diplomatic notes which stated that it would not be accepting Japanese waste in exchange for economic concessions.
In keeping with this international mission, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an International network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.Domestic policiesCharter changeIn 2005, Arroyo initiated a movement for an overhaul of the constitution to transform the present presidential-bicameral republic into a federal parliamentary-unicameral form of government. At her 2005 State of the Nation Address, she claimed "The system clearly needs fundamental change, and the sooner the better. It's time to start the great debate on Charter Change".
In late 2006, the House of Representatives shelved a plan to revise the constitution through constituent assembly.Executive Order No. 464 and calibrated preemptive responseIn late September 2005, Arroyo issued an executive order stating that 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. There is the issuance of Executive Order No. 464 forbidding government officials under the executive department from appearing in congressional inquiries without President Arroyo's prior consent. These measures were challenged before the Supreme Court, which apparently declared some sections as unconstitutional.Human rightsA May 2006 Amnesty International report expressed concern over the sharp rise in vigilante killings of militant activists and community workers in the Philippines. Task Force Usig, a special police unit tasked to probe reported extra-judicial killings, by state run death squads counts 115 murders and says most of these are the result of an internal purge by communist rebels.
These violations were alleged to have been committed against left-leaning organizations and party-list groups including BAYAN, Bayan Muna and Anakpawis. These organizations accuse the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines for the deaths of these political opponents. Arroyo has condemned political killings "in the harshest possible terms" and urged witnesses to come forward.
"The report, which Melo submitted to Arroyo last month, reportedly linked state security forces to the murder of militants and recommended that military officials, notably retired major general Jovito Palparan, be held liable under the principle of command responsibility for killings in their areas of assignment."
General Palparan who retired September 11, 2006 has been appointed by President Arroyo to be part of the Security Council. This has alarmed left-leaning political parties about the potential for human rights violations.
An independent commission was assembled in August 2006 to investigate the killings. Headed by former Supreme Court Justice Jose Melo, the group known as the Melo Commission concluded that most of the killings were instigated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, but found no proof linking the murder of activists to a "national policy" as claimed by the left-wing groups. On the other hand the report "linked state security forces to the murder of militants and recommended that military officials, notably retired major general Jovito Palparan, be held liable under the principle of command responsibility for killings in their areas of assignment."
Under Arroyo's government, the Philippines has become second only to Iraq as the world's riskiest place to report the news, with 23 journalists killed since 2003
In her July 23, 2007 State of the Nation Address, Arroyo has set out her agenda for her last three years in office, and called for legislation to deal with a spate of political killings that have brought international criticism to her presidency. She promised to bring peace to the troubled south, and also defended a controversial new anti-terrorism legislation. Arroyo told the joint session of Congress that "I would rather be right than popular."
In 2007, incidences of extrajudicial killings dropped 87%, with the decline attributed to the creation of a special task force to handle the killings.Amnesty proclamationOn September 5, 2007, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Amnesty Proclamation 1377 for members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army; other communist rebel groups; and their umbrella organization, the National Democratic Front. The amnesty will cover the crime of rebellion and all other crimes "in pursuit of political beliefs," but not including crimes against chastity, rape, torture, kidnapping for ransom, use and trafficking of illegal drugs and other crimes for personal ends and violations of international law or convention and protocols "even if alleged to have been committed in pursuit of political beliefs." The National Committee on Social Integration (NCSI) will issue a Certificate of Amnesty to qualified applicants. Implementing rules and regulations are being drafted and the decree will be submitted to the Senate of the Philippines and the House of Representatives for their concurrence. The proclamation becomes effective only after Congress has concurred.Estrada pardonOn October 25, 2007, Arroyo granted pardon to Joseph Estrada, supposedly based on the recommendation by the Department of Justice. Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye quoted the signed Order: "In view hereof in pursuant of the authority conferred upon me by the Constitution, I hereby grant Executive clemency to Joseph Ejercito Estrada, convicted by the Sandiganbayan of plunder and imposed a penalty of reclusion perpetua. He is hereby restored to his civil and political rights."
Bunye noted that Estrada committed in his application not to seek public office, and he would be free from his Tanay resthouse on October 26, noon. Accordingly, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales categorically stated in 2008 that an Estrada plan to run for president in the scheduled 2010 elections is unconstitutional. Estrada, however, disagrees, saying that he is eligible to run for president again, based on the legal advise he gets from former Supreme Court Chief Justice Andres Narvasa.HealthOn July 3, 2009, it was announced that Arroyo had undergone a biopsy to examine lumps discovered in her breast and groin.[ Remonde also denied reports published in 3 July 2009 editions of the ]Public perception Social Weather Stations quarterly public opinion polling of the net satisfaction rating of President Arroyo. AppendixArroyo is both Chief Scout of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines and Chief Girl Scout of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines.
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