Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

The daughter of former president Diosdado Macapagal, she studied economics at Georgetown University in the United States, where she began a lasting friendly relationship with her classmate and future U.S. president Bill Clinton.^[5] She then became a professor of economics at Ateneo de Manila University, where her eventual successor, President Benigno Aquino III, was one of her students. She entered government in 1987, serving as the assistant secretary and undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry upon the invitation of President Corazon Aquino, Benigno's mother.


After Estrada was accused of corruption, Arroyo resigned her cabinet position as secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and joined the growing opposition against the president, who faced impeachment. Estrada was soon forced out from office by the Second EDSA Revolution in 2001, and Arroyo was sworn into the presidency by Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. on January 20 that year. In 2003, the Oakwood mutiny occurred after signs of a martial law declaration were seen under her rule.^[6][7] She was elected to a full six-year term in the controversial 2004 presidential election, and was sworn in on June 30, 2004. A long-time opponent of the death penalty,^[8] she abolished capital punishment in 2006 after commuting the death sentences of over 1,200 prisoners.^[9][10] Following her presidency, she was elected to the House of Representatives through her home district, making her the second Philippine president—after José P. Laurel—to pursue a lower office after their presidency.


On November 18, 2011, Arroyo was arrested and held at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City under charges of electoral sabotage^[11][12] but released on bail in July 2012. These charges were later dropped for lack of evidence. She was rearrested in October 2012 on false charges of misuse of $8.8 million in state lottery funds.^[13] She was given a hospital arrest due to life-threatening health conditions certified by her doctors.^[14] During the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, the Supreme Court acquitted her by a vote of 11–4.^[15] Also, the Supreme Court declared the Department of Justice's 'hold departure orders' unconstitutional.^[16][17] Arroyo's lawyers stated afterward that she no longer needed her medical paraphernalia, releasing her from the hospital.^[18]


Arroyo is a member of the Philippine Academy of the Spanish Language^[19] and supported the teaching of Spanish in the country's education system during her presidency.^[20]


On July 23, 2018, Arroyo was elected speaker of the House of Representatives during the Duterte administration, controversially^[21] replacing Pantaleon Alvarez.^[22] She spearheaded various controversial bills, including a bill that sought to lower the age of criminal liability to 12 years old.^[23]


Arroyo is the first president to succeed the presidency as the child of a previous president; her father was Diosdado Macapagal, who served as the country's ninth president between from 1961 to 1965.^[24]

Personal life[edit]

In 1968, Arroyo married lawyer and businessman Jose Miguel Arroyo of Binalbagan, Negros Occidental.^[3] They have three children: including Juan Miguel (born 1969), ^[29] and Diosdado Ignacio Jose Maria (born 1974). She received a master's degree in economics at the Ateneo de Manila University (1978) and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of the Philippines Diliman (1985).^[30] From 1977 to 1987, she held teaching positions in several schools, including 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.