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The daughter of a former president, Arroyo was an economics teacher before becoming an officer of an economic planning agency of the government in the late 1980s. She was elected senator in 1992 and topped the senate race in 1995. Three years later, she became the vice president of the country.
After a people's uprising ousted President Joseph Estrada from power, Arroyo was catapulted to the presidency in 2001. She ran for president in 2004 and managed to get a fresh mandate to serve the country for another six years.
Arroyo is vocal about her plan to leave a lasting legacy to the Filipino nation. She often refers to her economic and social programs, which she believes would make the Philippines a peaceful, vibrant and prosperous country.
As Arroyo's term is about to end in 2010, it is sensible to review what the president promised at the start of her presidency and compare it with what she accomplished after seven years in power. The best sources of information are Arroyo's inaugural speeches in 2001 and 2004.
Arroyo said she accepted the privilege and responsibility of becoming president in 2001 with feelings of trepidation and a sense of awe. She hailed the birthing of a new Philippines and the heroism of the people. Arroyo was proud of the People Power uprising, called the Edsa Revolution after the Manila highway where thousands of people marched. She even asserted that "Filipinos of unborn generations will look back with pride to Edsa 2001."
Seven years later, Arroyo's spokesman appealed to the people to forget the "divisive" Edsa 2001.
In her inaugural address, Arroyo made mention of the major groups and individuals who led the uprising in 2001. She expressed her gratitude to the legislators and witnesses who supported the impeachment process, the youth and students who walked out of their classrooms to participate in Edsa, the generals in the armed forces, and the Filipinos "who stood up to be counted" during those "troubled times."
In the past seven years, Arroyo never forgot to thank the generals by appointing them to juicy positions in the government. She exaggerated the role of the generals and downplayed the participation of the left and the poor in Edsa 2001. Arroyo's revisionism is echoed by armchair political analysts who continue to insist that the uprising in 2001 was nothing more than a successful conspiracy of the tiny Arroyo clique.
In 2001, Arroyo set down four core beliefs of her administration:
1. Be bold in national ambition to win the fight against poverty;
2. Improve moral standards in government and society in order to provide a strong foundation for good governance;
3. Change the character of politics, create fertile ground for true reforms. Politics of personality and patronage must give way to a new politics of party programs; and
4. Leadership by example. Promote solid traits such as a work ethic and a dignified lifestyle, matching action to rhetoric, performing rather than grandstanding.
The Philippines remains a poor country, but this is not the fault of Arroyo alone. It would take more than seven years to reverse the poverty situation in the Philippines. What Arroyo should be held accountable for is her failure to improve the moral standards in government. The Catholic Church and peoples' organizations have accused the president of practicing a "morally bankrupt" leadership. Even Arroyo's political allies have launched a crusade for a "moral revolution." These are all an indictment against Arroyo's brand of leadership.
In 2001, Arroyo emphasized that "traditional politics is the politics of the status quo" and is a structural part of the problem. This was her argument for promoting a new politics of party programs. Seven years after she made this speech, patronage politics is still strong in the country and Arroyo has become like a Mafia lady boss who gives out taxpayers' money to loyal politicians.
During her inaugural speech as a re-elected president in 2004, Arroyo focused on what she wished to accomplish in the next six years. She was very confident that her government could fulfil the following:
"I shall have created more than 6 million jobs, perhaps, even 10 million jobs. I shall have supported 3 million entrepreneurs by giving them loans. That way, we shall be establishing a deep foundation for a broad middle class.
"I shall have developed 1 million hectares, if possible 2 million, of agribusiness land by making them productive and transporting their products to the markets efficiently. Everyone of school age will be in school in uncrowded classrooms, in surroundings conducive to learning.
"I shall have balanced the budget by collecting the right revenues and spending on the right things. Elections will no longer raise a single doubt about their integrity. The electoral process will be completely computerized. Power and water will be regularly provided to all villages.
"Peace will have come to Mindanao. All insurgents shall have turned their swords into ploughshares. They will have become so absorbed into one society that the struggles of the past will be just the stuff of legend."
Arroyo pledged to bring "a pro-poor agenda that will lift up the poor and imbue them with hope." She promised to "crack down on wasteful and abusive officials and influence peddlers."
What has Arroyo accomplished after finishing the first half of her six-year term?
Each year 1 million people are forced to leave the country since there are inadequate job opportunities. The middle classes are vanishing since they are migrating to other nations. Agribusiness is booming for big capitalists but the farmers remain landless and hungry.
The classroom shortage was solved by adopting a classroom-to-student ratio of 1:100. A balanced budget was achieved by raising the consumption tax. Elections are still inefficient, slow and fraud-prone. Power and water are regularly provided by private companies to all villages which can afford the high rates.
A civil war is still ongoing in the countryside. The government refuses to engage in peace talks that address the roots of insurgency.
Many political analysts, and even the opposition, believe that Arroyo will step down voluntarily in 2010. They should remember that in 2001 Arroyo said she would win the war against poverty in one decade. That should have alerted the opposition that Arroyo intended to remain in power until 2010. Instead, they naively assumed that she would not run for president in 2004.
To all those who believe Arroyo will step down in 2010, don't forget her promise that she would make the Philippines a first-world nation in 2020. Arroyo wants to remain president for life.
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(Mong Palatino is a Filipino youth activist, news editor of Yehey!, a Philippine-based web portal, and a Global Voices correspondent. His Web site is www.mongpalatino.motime.com, and he can be reached at mongpalatino@gmail.com. ©Copyright Mong Palatino.)
