December 2000. She wants to emulate two former
presidents. She looks up to his father, the late President Diosdado
Macapagal for his integrity. She admires former President Corazon Aquino
for becoming the first woman to run Malacañang. Today, she believes
she is prepared to follow their footsteps.
"I will follow my father's footsteps by 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," Vice-President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo told the prestigious magazine Asiaweek.
At 53, Arroyo prepares to takeover the presidency, should incumbent
President Joseph Estrada give in to the demands that he leave his post.
Asked how soon Estrada should resign, she said: "As soon as possible.
If he could resign now, all the better."
Various sectors of Philippine society are clamoring for the resignation
of President Estrada over allegations that he accepted bribe money from
operators of jueteng, an illegal gambling game. Estrada denied this,
and blamed his political opponents for insinuating the moves to unseat
him.
Arroyo who was a part of the Estrada Cabinet left the administration
to lead the Opposition party. The Constitution provides that she, as
vice president, will assume the presidency should Estrada resign or
be impeached.
She argues that President Estrada should leave Malacañang soon
to save the failing economy. When asked if things would improve if she
would replace Estrada, Arroyo said: "Yes. Things are so bad now."
"Leadership by example, transparency, a good work ethic and a dignified
lifestyle," Arroyo said of the kind of government she intends to
lead. "I'll just have to emulate my father (President Diosdado
Macapagal, who served from 1961-1965). During his time, the Philippines
was second only to Japan in Asia."
Arroyo was born to the late President Macapagal and the late Dr. Evangelina
Macaraeg on April 5, 1947. She spent her childhood years with her maternal
grandmother in Iligan City. Described by her teachers as a bright student,
she graduated as high school valedictorian from Assumption Convent.
For two years, she was in the dean's list at Georgetown University where
she met US President Bill Clinton as a classmate. At her sophomore year
at the American university, she went back to the Philippines to marry
Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo, now a successful businessman.
In Manila, she pursued a degree in commerce at Assumption College where
she graduated as magna cum laude. She earned a Master's Degree in Commerce
at the Ateneo de Manila University and went on to complete a Ph.D. in
Economics at the University of the Philippines.
After completing her studies, she taught Economics subjects at Assumption
College, Ateneo de Manila, and U.P. She also served as a columnist at
the now defunct Manila Chronicle. Former President Aquino assigned her
as an assistant secretary at the Department of Trade and Industry. In
1992, she ran for public office and won a seat in the 24-man Philippine
Senate. That was the start of her thriving political career.
In 1995, she sought reelection and topped all senatorial winners by
garnering more than 16 million votes. She was elected vice-president
in the 1998 elections, the same time Estrada won the presidency. President
Estrada eventually designated her as secretary of the Department of
Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
She remained a part of the Estrada administration until October this
year, when Ilocos Sur Governor Luis Chavit Singson implicated President
Estrada in the jueteng scam. But Arroyo herself was also linked to jueteng
operators, particularly Bong Pineda, the husband of Lubao, Pampanga
Mayor Lilia Pineda.
Arroyo denied the allegations. She admitted though that she stood as
a godmother during the baptism of one of Pineda's children. "It
was out of a Christian duty that I became a godmother -- one of several
-- during a baptism of one of his children. I've consulted Cardinal
Jaime Sin on this, and he told me that the sin of the father is not
the sin of the child," she said.
When asked of her stand on gambling, Arroyo said: "I follow the
stand of the Church on almost all of the political issues with a moral
dimension. So I view gambling as a social evil."
Arroyo said the economic and political turmoil in the country would
continue until President Estrada leaves Malacañang. But senators
of the majority party disagree. Senator Juan Ponce Enrile said the present
economic problem would persist even under an Arroyo administration,
adding that it was a crisis of regional proportion affecting the whole
of Asia.
For Arroyo, however, the key to ending the problem is the change in
leadership and political system. "Our political system needs changing.
It needs to move away from personalities and patronage to a system of
party programs and consultation with the people. We also need to improve
moral standards in the government and Philippines' society," she
said.
