Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

Who is Gloria Macapagal Arroyo? • Is a Filipino professor and politician who was the 14th President of the Philippines from 2001 until 2010, as the 10th Vice President of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, as the deputy speaker of the 17th Congress from 2016 to 2017, and a member of the House of Representatives representing the 2nd District of Pampanga since 2010. She was the country's second female president (after Corazon Aquino), and the daughter of former President Diosdado Macapagal, and Eva Macapagal. Arroyo is also the first duly elected female Vice President of the Philippines.

Life Journey of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo • Macapagal-Arroyo was raised in both San Juan and her mother's hometown of Iligan, on the island of Mindanao, where she lived from the age of four to eleven with her maternal grandmother, Irinea de la Cruz Macaraeg.

• Macapagal-Arroyo attended primary and secondary school at Assumption College in the Philippine capital of Manila. When she was 15, her father became president and she moved into the Malacanang Palace with her family.

• She graduated from high school in 1964 and was named valedictorian of her class.

• From 1964 to 1966, Macapagal-Arroyo attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where she was classmates with future United States President Bill Clinton.

• She married to Jose Miguel "Mike" Tuason Arroyo on August 2, 1968, They have three children: Juan Miguel, born on April 26, 1969; Evangelina Lourdes, born on June 5, 1971; and Diosdado Ignacio, born on September 4, 1974.

• Macapagal-Arroyo completed her undergraduate education in Manila, graduating magna cum laude from Assumption College with a degree in commerce in 1968.

• Macapagal-Arroyo earned a master's degree in economics from Ateneo de Manila University in 1978 and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of the Philippines in 1985.

• She worked as an assistant professor at both schools as well, from 1977 to 1987. From 1984 to 1987 she also chaired the Economics Department at Assumption College. In 1989, she became assistant secretary in the Department of Trade and Industry under president Corazon Aquino. She was later named Trade Undersecretary and Governor of the Board of Investments.

Launched Political Career • Macapagal-Arroyo launched her political career in 1992 at the age of 35, when she successfully ran for the Philippine Senate. Macapagal-Arroyo placed only 13th in the election.

• She ran for reelection in 1995, This time, she placed first with a record 16 million votes and a 3.2 million-vote lead over the second-place candidate.

• As Macapagal-Arroyo's popularity soared, she initiated a bid for the presidency in the 1998 election, running under the banner of the newly formed Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI) party.

• For a time, Macapagal-Arroyo led in the polls, pulling ahead of Joseph Estrada, the vice-president and leading contender. Macapagal-Arroyo withdrew from the race, however, after her running mate, Tito Sotto, became the target of a Senate investigation for his ties to a suspected drug lord.

• Macapagal-Arroyo instead ran for vice-president on the Lakas-NUCD-KAMPI combined party ticket and was elected to that post, receiving even more votes than Estrada, who was elected president. Soon after the election she also accepted the position of Secretary of Social Welfare and Development in Estrada's cabinet.

Arroyo’s Presidency • While Macapagal-Arroyo planned to leverage her position into a successful presidential campaign, just as Estrada had done, her ascension to the nation's top post came sooner than expected. By 2000, charges of corruption had begun to surface against Estrada and on October 12 of that year, Macapagal-Arroyo resigned from her cabinet and became leader of the United Opposition movement, which sought to remove Estrada from office and put Macapagal-Arroyo in his place.

• Following public demonstrations on January 19, 2001, People Power 2 ultimately prevailed. Estrada was forced from office, and Macapagal-Arroyo was named 14th president of the Philipines on January 20, 2001, becoming the first child of a former president to hold the post. As she anticipated this event, she told Time International in a November 2000 interview that she planned to look to two predecessors as examples: "I will follow my father's footsteps in doing what is right, and God will take care of the rest. My father is my role model. My living role model is Cory Aquino. I am prepared."

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