Presidential Management Staff (PMS) Cabinet Secretary
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)
Alan Peter Cayetano
Neri
Saturday, 27 October 2007
Friday, 26 October 2007
Arroyo Background
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (born April 5, 1947), also known by her initials "G.M.A.", is the 14th and current president of the Republic 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 EDSA II that ousted Joseph Ejercito-Estrada from power amid accusations of widespread corruption. Arroyo was elected to a six-year term in a widely contested and greatly tainted 2004 election, defeating the popular, presidential candidate Fernando Poe, Jr..
In 2005, Arroyo was selected as the fourth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine. She is ranked as number 45 on Forbes magazine's list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2006,[2] and 51st in [3] 2007.
President Arroyo was born Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal to 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.[4] At the age of four, she became jealous of her newborn brother and she chose to live with her maternal grandmother in Iligan City.[5] She stayed there for three years, then split her time between Mindanao and Manila until the age of 11.[5]
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.[6] 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.[4] 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).[7] 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.
Senator
Arroyo 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.[8] 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.[4]
The 1995 Mining Act, which allows 100% foreign ownership of Philippine mines, has come under fire from left-wing political groups.
Vice Presidency
Arroyo 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.[9] Though the latter lost to popular former actor Joseph Ejercito Estrada, Arroyo won the vice presidency by a large margin, garnering more than twice the votes of her closest opponent, Estrada's running mate Senator Edgardo Angara.[10]
The EDSA II Revolution that catapulted Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to power is depicted on the 200-peso bill.
Arroyo began her term as Vice President on June 30, 1998. She was appointed by Estrada to a concurrent position in the cabinet as Secretary of Social Welfare and Development.[9]
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.[1] She joined calls for Estrada's resignation. [1]
Presidency
Succession in 2001
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 allegiance to Estrada and shifted to Arroyo's side. Arroyo was sworn in the same day as the 14th president of the Philippines by Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. Coincidentally, Arroyo assumed office the same day as US President George W. Bush. The ousting of Estrada would later be known as EDSA II.
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. Arroyo was able to wield and enjoy the powers and privileges of the presidency. The international community, through their respective embassies and consulates in the country, together with all the government offices and most of the armed forces, recognized Arroyo as President of the Philippines.
Protesters numbering in the thousands marched to the presidential palace on May 1, 2001 and demanded Estrada, who had previously been apparently arrested on charges of 'plunder', be released and reinstated. Violence erupted when the protesters attempted to storm the presidential palace. In response, protesters and prominent political leaders were arrested, and the protest was eventually quelled. This would be infamously (albeit informally) pronounced as EDSA III.
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. 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 mutiny
On July 26, 2003, Arroyo faced a rebellion when renegade junior officers and their followers mutinied and seized a hotel and shopping mall in the business district of Makati City in Metro Manila. Arroyo delivered a televised warning to the renegades and threatened hostile action if they did not surrender. Senator Rodolfo Biazon, a former general, was requested to talk to the mostly young, rebel soldiers. They surrendered soon after it became apparent that they would be attacked by government forces. The mutiny was rumored to have been connected to Estrada and his supporters. A former aide of Estrada has been arrested in connection with the uprising. The President created the Feliciano Commission to investigate the mutiny. The commission later found that the rebellions, dubbed the Oakwood Mutiny (named after the hotel the rebels seized), was planned and not spontaneous. It was obviously an attempt to bring down the Arroyo Government. The connection to Estrada, however, was never proven.
Jose Pidal controversy
In August 18, 2003, Senator Panfilo Lacson accused Jose Miguel Arroyo, the president's husband, of siphoning campaign funds into a bank account under the fictitious name "Jose Pidal". The accusations were never legally substantiated.[
The 2004 election and subsquent rigging allegations
Arroyo taking her Oath of Office in Cebu City on June 30, 2004.
Although the Philippine Constitution bars a president from reelection, it allows for the election of a person who has succeeded as president and has served for not more than four years.[12] In December 2002, Arroyo made the surprise announcement that she would not seek a new term in the May 2004 elections.[9] Ten months later, however, she reversed her position and declared her intention to seek a direct mandate from the people, saying "there is a higher cause to change society… in a way that nourishes our future".[13]
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.[9]
Arroyo lagged behind Poe in the polls prior to the campaign season, but her popularity steadily climbed to surpass Poe's.[14] 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.[10] She took her oath of office on June 30, 2004. In a break with tradition, She chose to first deliver her inaugural address at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila before departing to Cebu City for her oath taking, the first time a Philippine president took the oath of office outside of Luzon.[9]
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 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.[15] [16] [17]
Economy
Arroyo, a practicing economist, has made the economy the focus of her presidency. 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.[18] 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 been the lowest since 1986, averaging 5.3%.[19] Recently in 2nd quarter of 2007, the economy expanded at 7.5%, the fastest in 20 years.[20]
Arroyo's handling of the economy has earned praise from observers including former US President Bill Clinton, who praised Arroyo for making "tough decisions" that put the Philippine economy back in shape.[21]
It was once reported that a series of 100-peso bills misspelling her name as "Arrovo" were released during the early part of her presidency. Most of these bills were withdrawn from circulation.
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (born April 5, 1947), also known by her initials "G.M.A.", is the 14th and current president of the Republic 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 EDSA II that ousted Joseph Ejercito-Estrada from power amid accusations of widespread corruption. Arroyo was elected to a six-year term in a widely contested and greatly tainted 2004 election, defeating the popular, presidential candidate Fernando Poe, Jr..
In 2005, Arroyo was selected as the fourth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine. She is ranked as number 45 on Forbes magazine's list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2006,[2] and 51st in [3] 2007.
President Arroyo was born Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal to 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.[4] At the age of four, she became jealous of her newborn brother and she chose to live with her maternal grandmother in Iligan City.[5] She stayed there for three years, then split her time between Mindanao and Manila until the age of 11.[5]
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.[6] 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.[4] 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).[7] 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.
Senator
Arroyo 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.[8] 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.[4]
The 1995 Mining Act, which allows 100% foreign ownership of Philippine mines, has come under fire from left-wing political groups.
Vice Presidency
Arroyo 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.[9] Though the latter lost to popular former actor Joseph Ejercito Estrada, Arroyo won the vice presidency by a large margin, garnering more than twice the votes of her closest opponent, Estrada's running mate Senator Edgardo Angara.[10]
The EDSA II Revolution that catapulted Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to power is depicted on the 200-peso bill.
Arroyo began her term as Vice President on June 30, 1998. She was appointed by Estrada to a concurrent position in the cabinet as Secretary of Social Welfare and Development.[9]
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.[1] She joined calls for Estrada's resignation. [1]
Presidency
Succession in 2001
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 allegiance to Estrada and shifted to Arroyo's side. Arroyo was sworn in the same day as the 14th president of the Philippines by Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. Coincidentally, Arroyo assumed office the same day as US President George W. Bush. The ousting of Estrada would later be known as EDSA II.
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. Arroyo was able to wield and enjoy the powers and privileges of the presidency. The international community, through their respective embassies and consulates in the country, together with all the government offices and most of the armed forces, recognized Arroyo as President of the Philippines.
Protesters numbering in the thousands marched to the presidential palace on May 1, 2001 and demanded Estrada, who had previously been apparently arrested on charges of 'plunder', be released and reinstated. Violence erupted when the protesters attempted to storm the presidential palace. In response, protesters and prominent political leaders were arrested, and the protest was eventually quelled. This would be infamously (albeit informally) pronounced as EDSA III.
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. 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 mutiny
On July 26, 2003, Arroyo faced a rebellion when renegade junior officers and their followers mutinied and seized a hotel and shopping mall in the business district of Makati City in Metro Manila. Arroyo delivered a televised warning to the renegades and threatened hostile action if they did not surrender. Senator Rodolfo Biazon, a former general, was requested to talk to the mostly young, rebel soldiers. They surrendered soon after it became apparent that they would be attacked by government forces. The mutiny was rumored to have been connected to Estrada and his supporters. A former aide of Estrada has been arrested in connection with the uprising. The President created the Feliciano Commission to investigate the mutiny. The commission later found that the rebellions, dubbed the Oakwood Mutiny (named after the hotel the rebels seized), was planned and not spontaneous. It was obviously an attempt to bring down the Arroyo Government. The connection to Estrada, however, was never proven.
Jose Pidal controversy
In August 18, 2003, Senator Panfilo Lacson accused Jose Miguel Arroyo, the president's husband, of siphoning campaign funds into a bank account under the fictitious name "Jose Pidal". The accusations were never legally substantiated.[
The 2004 election and subsquent rigging allegations
Arroyo taking her Oath of Office in Cebu City on June 30, 2004.
Although the Philippine Constitution bars a president from reelection, it allows for the election of a person who has succeeded as president and has served for not more than four years.[12] In December 2002, Arroyo made the surprise announcement that she would not seek a new term in the May 2004 elections.[9] Ten months later, however, she reversed her position and declared her intention to seek a direct mandate from the people, saying "there is a higher cause to change society… in a way that nourishes our future".[13]
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.[9]
Arroyo lagged behind Poe in the polls prior to the campaign season, but her popularity steadily climbed to surpass Poe's.[14] 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.[10] She took her oath of office on June 30, 2004. In a break with tradition, She chose to first deliver her inaugural address at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila before departing to Cebu City for her oath taking, the first time a Philippine president took the oath of office outside of Luzon.[9]
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 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.[15] [16] [17]
Economy
Arroyo, a practicing economist, has made the economy the focus of her presidency. 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.[18] 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 been the lowest since 1986, averaging 5.3%.[19] Recently in 2nd quarter of 2007, the economy expanded at 7.5%, the fastest in 20 years.[20]
Arroyo's handling of the economy has earned praise from observers including former US President Bill Clinton, who praised Arroyo for making "tough decisions" that put the Philippine economy back in shape.[21]
It was once reported that a series of 100-peso bills misspelling her name as "Arrovo" were released during the early part of her presidency. Most of these bills were withdrawn from circulation.
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