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Gloria Macapagal–Arroyo, born in 1947, president of the Republic of the Philippines since 2001, when as vice president she replaced deposed president Joseph Estrada midway through his six-year term. She is the 14th president of the republic and the second woman to hold the office.
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was born in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, to Diosdado Macapagal and Evangelina Macaraeg-Macapagal. During most of her childhood years, she lived with her grandmother Irinea Macaraeg in the family home on Mindanao Island. When she was a teenager, her father served as president of the Philippine republic from 1961 to 1965.
She received her high school education in Manila at Assumption Convent, graduating valedictorian of her class. She attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., during the 1964-1965 term and in the spring of 1966, and then she returned to the Philippines. Macapagal-Arroyo continued her undergraduate studies at Assumption College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1968. In August of that year, she married José Miguel (“Mike”) Tuason Arroyo. She received a master’s degree in economics from Ateneo de Manila University in 1978. She completed a doctorate in economics at the University of the Philippines (UP) in 1985. Meanwhile, she began her professional career as a teacher. From 1977 to 1987 she worked concurrently as an assistant professor at Ateneo de Manila University and as a professor at the UP School of Economics.
Macapagal-Arroyo entered government service in 1986 during the administration of President Corazon Aquino. That year, Aquino became the republic’s first female president when the People Power Movement ousted president-dictator Ferdinand |
Marcos. Macapagal-Arroyo began as an assistant secretary in the Department of Trade and Industry and rose to the rank of undersecretary of the department.Macapagal-Arroyo successfully ran for the Senate in 1992 and was reelected in 1995. In the May 1998 presidential and vice-presidential elections, she campaigned as the running mate of José de Venecia, the presidential contender representing the then-ruling party, Lakas ng EDSA (Lakas). He lost to Joseph Estrada of the Laban ng Masang Pilipino (LMP), but Macapagal-Arroyo easily won the separate vice-presidential race. Although she belonged to the opposition Lakas party, Estrada appointed her to serve concurrently in his cabinet as secretary of social welfare and development.
Macapagal-Arroyo resigned the cabinet post in October 2000 when Estrada became embroiled in a bribery scandal. She then led the United Opposition against Estrada, who faced impeachment. When the impeachment trial was suspended because of a walkout by the prosecution during the Senate hearings, tens of thousands of Filipinos staged demonstrations in the streets calling for Estrada’s resignation. Four days of massive demonstrations, combined with defections of important cabinet members and military leaders to Macapagal-Arroyo’s camp, led to Estrada’s ouster on January 20, 2001. That day, Macapagal-Arroyo was sworn in as the 14th president of the republic. This series of events became known as People Power II.
Macapagal-Arroyo pledged to uphold an administration free of cronyism and corruption. She faced many challenges, including widespread poverty and a faltering economy. Although these problems persisted, the people of the Philippines elected Macapagal-Arroyo to a full six-year term in 2004.
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