G loria M acapagalArroyo

14th President of the Philippines

January 20, 2001 June 30, 2010

Early Life
Born in the San Juan in the Philippine province of Rizal
Was raised in both San Juan and Iligan
She graduated from high school in 1964 and and was
named valedictorian of the class
She then studied for two years at Georgetown
Universitys Walsh School of Foreign Affairs
Earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from
Assumption College, graduating magna cum laude in
1968

Career in Politics
In 1987, she was the assistant secretary of the
Department of Trade and Industry.
She officially entered politics in 1992 election, running
for senator. Arroyo ranked 13th in the elections and was
re-elected in 1995.
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

Career in Politics
In 1998, she became the first female vice president of
the Philippines

First Term (2001 2004)

Arroyos 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.
On May 1, 2001, a week after Estrada was arrested on
charges of plunder, an estimated 3,000,000protesters
sympathetic to Estrada degenerated into violence and
attempted to storm thepresidential palaceto force

Career in Politics
2004 Presidential Elections
Although thePhilippine Constitutionbars 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.In December 2002, Arroyo made the surprise
announcement that she would not seek a new term in
thePhilippine general election, 2004.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".

Econom y
Arroyo, a practicing economist, has made the economy
the focus of her presidency. The Philippine economy
grew at its fastest pace in three decades in 2007, with
real GDP growth exceeding 7%.Arroyo's handling of the
economy has earned praise from former "friend" and
classmate in Georgetown, ex-US PresidentBill Clinton,
who cited her "tough decisions" that put the Philippine
economy back in shape.
Studies made by theUnited Nations and local survey
research firms show worsening, instead of
improving,povertylevels. A comparative 2008
UNreport shows that the Philippines lags behind its
Asian
neighbors,Indonesia,Thailand,VietnamandChina, in

N ationalEconom ic and D evelopm ent Authority

Gross Domestic Product

5
3.8

3.7

3.7

D om estic Policies
Charter Change
In the presidents SONA, she said that the system of
government needs fundamental change and the debate
on Charter Change should start immediately. She initiated
a movement to overthrow the present form of
government and make it into a federal parliamentaryunicameral form of government.

Executive Order No. 464 and Calibrated

Preemptive Response
Arroyo issued Executive Order No. 464 which states
that demonstrations or otherwise known as rallies should

D om estic Policies
Human Rights
A May 2006Amnesty Internationalreport expressed concern
over the sharp rise in vigilante killings of militant activists and
community workers in the Philippines
These violations were alleged to have been committed against
left-leaning organizations and party-list groups
includingBAYAN,Bayan MunaandAnakpawis. These
organizations accuse thePhilippine National PoliceandArmed
Forces of the Philippinesfor 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

D om estic Policy
Amnesty Proclamation 1377
President Arroyo signed the Amnesty Proclamation
1377 which is for the Communist Party of the Philippines
and the New Peoples Army.
The amnesty would cover up the crime of rebellion and
all other crimes fighting for political beliefs but will not
include the crimes against chastity, rape, torture,
kidnapping for ransom, use and trafficking of illegal drugs
and other crimes leading to personal ends which violate
international law provided that they surrender/return their
trust in the society.

Foreign Policy
Iraq War
The Arroyo administration has forged a strong relationship
with theUnited States. Arroyo was one of the first world leaders
who expressed support for the US-led coalition against global
terrorism in the aftermath of theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks,
and remains one of its closest allies in thewar on terror.
Following the US-ledinvasion of Iraq, in July 2003 the
Philippines sent a small humanitarian contingent which
included medics and engineers.

Philippine Japan Trade Deal

On August 21, 2007, Arroyo's administration asked
theSenate of the Philippinesto ratify a $4 billion (2 billion)

H oles and shortcom ings of the law s

Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)
problems during the Aquino Administration which are
still present today:
Extension of the land appraisal process
Very few and extremely vague guidelines for landowner
compensation
Extended landowner-tenant negotiations
Lack of technical organization
Inconsistent execution/implementation of program
The Amnesty Proclamation 1377 cannot convince the
hardcore communists to surrender because the root
cause of their rebellions which is to address their
problems is still not answered and addressed by the

H oles and shortcom ings of the law s

The governments implementation of the rice
productivity program is very expensive, ineffective and
inefficient. The Hybrid Rice Commercialization Program
(HRCP) is the new technology by the government.
However the results of this program were not very good.
The rate of adoption of the hybrid rice was very low and
there is a high dropout rate of the farmers because the
seeds of the hybrid rice are very expensive and hard to
get.
The Oil Deregulation Law which allows the local oil firm
to increase their prices on top of the monopoly imposed
oil prices in the international market. Because of this the
number of poor Filipinos would increasingly grow up if
the oil prices trends are there.

Issues and Controversies

The Hello Garci Controversy is about wiretapped recordings
of Gloria Macapagal Arroyos conversations with COMELEC
Commissioner Virgilio Garcilliano. The conversations was
about rigging or cheating the 2004 national elections. Former
NBI Deputy Director Samuel Ong released the wiretapped
tapes; he also claimed that he had the mother of all tapes
which was released a few days later.
The NBN-ZTE controversy is about a deal between the
Philippines and XTE Corporation, a company in china. The
deal was worth $329.59 Million and was aimed at improving
the communication capabilities of the Philippines. On August
29, 2007, Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla, disclosed on his
privilege speech that COMELEC chairman Benjamin Abalos
has been going to China not just for leisure but to broker a
deal with the XTE Corporation. He also said that there were

M utiny and Rebellion

The Oakwood mutiny occurred in thePhilippineson July
27, 2003. A group of 321 armed soldiers who called
themselves "Bagong Katipuneros"led by Army Capt.
Gerardo Gambala andLt.Antonio Trillanes IVof
thePhilippine Navytook over the Oakwood Premier Ayala
Center (now Ascott Makati) serviced apartment tower
inMakati Cityto show theFilipino peoplethe alleged
corruption of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration.
They also stated that they saw signs suggesting that the
President was going to declare martial law.
The Peninsula Manila Rebellion was a rebellion in
thePhilippineson November 29, 2007. Detained
SenatorAntonio Trillanes IV, General Lim and otherMagdalo
(mutineers)officials walked out of their trial and marched

End of presidency and arrest

In November 2009, Arroyo formally declared her intention
to run for a seat in theHouse of
Representativesrepresenting the2nd DistrictofPampanga.
A petition seeking to disqualify Arroyo from the race was
dismissed by theComelecfor lack of merit, a decision
which was later affirmed by the Supreme Court. With little
serious competition, she was elected to congress in May
2010 with a landslide victory.
Arroyo was arrested on 18 November 2011 after
aPasaycourt issued awarrant of arrestagainst her. This
followed the filing of a complaint for electoral sabotage
byCOMELEC. The arrest warrant was served atSt. Luke's
Medical Center,Taguigwhere Arroyo had been confined.
This and others resulted to corruption charges including her