When Gloria Was Nora: Notes from the Sidelines, №35
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) can be described in many ways. For some, she is a political animal par excellence. For others, she is the greatest influence of EDSA Dos.
For her rivals, she was the most corrupt President to have ever existed. And for others still, she is the most powerful former President which the country has ever seen.
These aspects of are part of her multi-faceted political career. But for now, our focus is on how her uncanny resemblance to Nora Aunor- a popular figure in Philippine Cinema- and a little luck led to her transformation as one of the most consequential figures in Philippine politics.
It is even more curious when you consider her political beginnings. GMA, of course, is the daughter of former President Diosdado Macapagal, who should be remembered as a political trailblazer in his own right. But while GMA was born in politics, she was not inclined towards it from the start. She originally pursued a career in economics. She even earned a PhD and taught in Ateneo, where she was the professor of a young Noynoy Aquino (and other movers and shakers).
In 1987, Arroyo joined the Aquino government, first as Assistant Secretary, then as Undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). During her time in DTI, Usec. Arroyo represented the Department in Congressional hearings. Those same Congressmen would convince her to run in the 1992 Senate elections under the LDP.
GMA won in the 1992 Senatorial elections, perhaps due to the residual name recall of the Macapagal brand. But she only placed 13th out of 24 Senators. This meant that, under the transitory provisions of the 1987 Constitution, it meant that she would seek reelection in 1995.
The 1995 Senate race was not an easy one. Consider the names who would eventually join the race: the mustachioed and enigmatic Gringo Honasan, who had become a folk hero of sorts. And who benefited from the political space created by Marcosian myth-making.
https://twitter.com/lucindomino/status/1654410635869065216
There was also the uber-popular Secretary of Health, Juan Flavier, whose approval ratings were as high as 90% according to some accounts. https://twitter.com/lucindomino/status/1655860167765004288
Others who joined the 1995 Senatorial derby: Miriam Defensor-Santiago, whom many believed “won in the voting, but lost in the counting” due to fraud in the 1992 Presidential elections; Ramon Magsaysay Jr., the son of the eponymous Ramon Magsaysay, a massively popular President whose term was cut short by a plane crash; a returning Juan Ponce Enrile; and rising figures like Franklin Drilon and Raul Roco.
But of these candidates, it was GMA who rose to the top. Arroyo was also the first female top-notcher in the at-large era of the Senate since Pacita Madrigal-Warns in 1955. In other words, she went from being in danger of losing the race to coming winning it all- and being considered future Presidential- material in 3 years.
And it was all due to Arroyo’s uncanny resemblance to a film star, Nora Aunor.
According to an old article by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, credit should go to GMA’s then-Public Relations handler, Dante Ang- the current owner and Chairman-Emeritus of the Manila Times.
Apparently, someone told Ang of the petite Arroyo’s resemblance to Nora Aunor. Ang then ran with it and asked entertainment columnist Fundador Soriano to write a column about GMA. He wrote: “cutie baby, kamukha ni Nora Aunor” (cutie baby, she looks like Nora Aunor).
The move gave Arroyo a wider appeal. After all, while politicians would fight for front-page coverage, the masses read the entertainment pages.
When Arroyo ran in 1995, they portrayed her in glamorous fashion, lounging against a sofa. She was also deliberately marketed as the “Nora Aunor ng Senado” (Nora Aunor of the Senate).
The Nora Aunor tactic worked like a charm. She said she it knew it was a smash when, while campaigning in Nueva Ecija, was met by children calling her “Nora Aunor!”
Arroyo topped the Senate election in 1995, with around 15 million votes. It immediately made her a candidate for either President or VP, especially with civil society organizations and business groups who were frightened of a potential Presidential campaign by Joseph “Erap” Ejercito Estrada.
Erap was another massively popular film star who had transitioned into politics. He had climbed the ranks to become Vice-President in 1992. He was also seen as a bumbling idiot by the business and civil society groups.
Thus, to head off a possible Estrade campaign, groups began to push for a tandem between Arroyo and Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, another massively popular film star turned politician. Like Arroyo, Sotto III had topped the 1992 Senatorial elections.
But it was not meant to be. Then-President Fidel V. Ramos opted instead to field a tandem of then-Speaker Jose de Venecia (JDV) and Senator Arroyo. The rest is history. JDV lost, but GMA won in ’98, garnering a mandate as large as Estrada. This time around, the Arroyo campaign deployed a different kind of glamour campaign. They portrayed her holding a rose- and in some cases, holding a bushel of palay (rice), which is a Filipino staple food, and a source of livelihood for thousands of farmers.
Arroyo joined the Estrada cabinet as Secretary of Social Welfare and Development. When Estrada began to be hounded by controversies, Vice-President Arroyo kept her head down. She was even tagged as “Ms. No Comment” at one point. That was due to VPGMA’s hesitance to criticize the incumbent President. In the Philippines, there is an unwritten expectation for Vice-Presidents to be a team player. Criticizing the incumbent President too much, or too early, makes the Vice-President appear overly ambitious, and thus untrustworthy.
The political climate changed in October 2000, just two months before the start of President Estrada’s trial before the Senate. That day, Arroyo left Estrada’s cabinet. 5 days later, she met with Cory Aquino, who was seen as the figurehead of reform and accountability due to her pivotal role in the 1986 EDSA Revolution. 10 days later, Arroyo asked Estrada to resign for the first time.
In an interview, Arroyo’s husband- and future first gentleman- said that ft the Cabinet at the right moment.” “If (Vice-President Arroyo) had tarried a moment longer, she would have been too late for EDSA: she would have made it there as an opportunist”. This contrasted with figures like DILG Secretary Alfred Lim, who left too late and was reportedly booed on stage.
Arroyo ascended to the Presidency in 2001, following the EDSA Dos Revolution. But she was never able to capture the mass appeal which she had as the Nora Aunor of the Senate in 1992. Her trust ratings slowly dropped. Many compared her to the elder Macapagal, was respected inspired no real love.
Former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino described Macapagal as “dry, stingy with praise, slow to appreciate, not demonstrative, not communicative”- in other words, lacking the enigmatic charisma, empathy, and accessibility often sought by Filipinos.
Arroyo’s PR manager, Dante Ang, certainly tried- and failed- several times. He and others attempted to repackage Arroyo as “Ate Glo” (Big Sister Gloria); as a teary-eyed “Ina ng Bayan” (Mother of the Nation), then as an action-movie quoting, strong leader. None of these worked, and Arroyo’s trust and performance ratings steadily fell.
Arroyo would secure reelection in 2004, and re-emerged as an influential political player in 2018. In both instances, she showed her mastery of backroom politics.
But that is another story for another time. And she likely may not have climbed those heights if not for her ingenious 1995 campaign.
For her part, Arroyo is aware of just how lucky she was. Had she slipped into the top 12 in 1992, she would have been 1 of 12 seeking reelection in 1998. She would not have been the topnotcher in 1995, frontrunner and eventual Vice-President in 1998, and President by 2001.
In a strange way, it parallels the circumstances of her father, who lost the 1955 Senate race, but proceeded to win in the 1957 and 1961 Vice-Presidential and Presidential campaigns. Speaking in 1961, Macapagal noted: “Had I won in the Senate 1955, (I) would have run for President in 1957, and I would surely have lost. (Then-President) Garcia had been president only nine months and voters would be inclined to give him a full term.”
To conclude, we borrow a quote from Machiavelli:Fortune is a woman (and her name is Gloria). Or perhaps more aptly, from a famous line by Nora Aunor herself: May Himala! (Miracles do happen!)
