VICE PRESIDENT OF THE
PHILIPPINES
GLORIA M. ARROYO

• Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (Tagalog: [mɐˈɾija ˈɡloɾja makaɾaˈʔeɡ
makapaˈɡal ɐˈɾɔjɔ], born April 5, 1947[3]), often referred to by her initials PGMA and GMA,
is a Filipino academic and politician who previously served as the 14th president of the
Philippines from 2001 until 2010. She is currently serving in the congress as a Deputy
Speaker since 2022. She is the longest serving president of
the Philippines since Ferdinand Marcos. Before her accession to the presidency, she
served as the 10th vice president of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001 under
President Joseph Estrada, making her the country's first female vice president, despite
having run on an opposing ticket. She was also a senator from 1992 to 1998. After her
presidency, she was elected as the representative of Pampanga's 2nd district in 2010 and
later became the speaker of the House of Representatives from 2018 until her retirement
in 2019. She later came out of retirement to be elected as representative of the same
district in 2022. She is one of the only 2 Filipinos to hold at least three of the four highest
offices in the country: vice president, president, and house speaker, alongside former
President Sergio Osmeña.

• 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. 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[8][9] but released
on bail in July 2012. These charges were later dropped for lack of evidence. She was
rearrested in October 2012, on charges of misuse of $8.8 million in state lottery
funds.[10] She was given a hospital arrest, allegedly due to "life-threatening health
conditions" certified by her doctors.[11] During the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte,
the Supreme Court acquitted her by a vote of 11–4.[12] Also, the Supreme Court
declared the Department of Justice's 'hold departure orders'
unconstitutional.[13][14] Arroyo's lawyers stated afterward that she no longer needed her
medical paraphernalia, releasing her from the hospital.

• Arroyo is a member of the Philippine Academy of the Spanish Language[16] and
supported the teaching of Spanish in the country's education system during her
presidency.[17]
• On July 23, 2018, Arroyo was elected speaker of the House of Representatives during
the Duterte administration, controversially[18] replacing Pantaleon Alvarez.[19] She
spearheaded various controversial bills, including a bill that sought to lower the age of
criminal liability to 12 years old.[20]
• Arroyo is the first president to succeed the presidency by being the child of a previous
or former president; her father was Diosdado Macapagal, who served as the
country's ninth president between from 1961 to 1965.

EARLY LIFE
• Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was born as Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal on April 5,
1947, in San Juan, Rizal, Philippines, to politician Diosdado Macapagal and his
wife, Evangelina Guico Macaraeg Macapagal. She is the sister of Diosdado "Boboy"
Macapagal Jr. She has two older siblings from her father's first marriage with Purita de
la Rosa, the sister of Rogelio de la Rosa,[22] Arturo Macapagal and Cielo Macapagal
Salgado.[3][23] She was raised mostly in Lubao, Pampanga and during summer
vacations, she lived with her maternal grandmother in Iligan City.[3][24] She is
a polyglot, fluent in English, Filipino and several other languages.

• She moved with her family into Malacañang Palace in Manila. A municipality was
named in her honor, Gloria, Oriental Mindoro. She attended Assumption Convent for
her elementary and high school education, graduating valedictorian in 1964. Arroyo
then studied for two years at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign
Service in Washington, D.C. where she was a classmate of future United States
president Bill Clinton.[26] She then earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics
from Assumption College San Lorenzo graduating magna cum laude in 1968.

PERSONAL LIFE
• In 1968, Arroyo married lawyer and businessman Jose Miguel Arroyo of Binalbagan,
Negros Occidental.[3] They had three children, including Juan Miguel and Diosdado
Ignacio Jose Maria (born in 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).[27] 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.

SENATOR
• Arroyo entered politics in the 1992 election, running for senator. At the first general
election under the 1987 Constitution, the top twelve vote-getting senatorial candidates
would win a six-year term, and the next twelve candidates would win a three-year
term.[28] Arroyo ranked 13th in the elections, earning a three-year term. She was re-
elected in 1995, topping the senatorial election with nearly 16 million votes.
• 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.[3] The 1995 Mining Act, which
allows 100% foreign ownership of Philippine mines, has come under fire from left-wing
political groups.[citation needed] Arroyo was also openly against the implementation
of capital punishment in the country, advocating instead for better criminal
rehabilitation during her time as Senator.