What I mean when I talk about Gloria Arroyo
Additional notes on an unforeseen (?) twist during President Rodrigo Duterte’s 3rd State of the Nation Address
In a move that stunned and confused viewers tuned in and waiting for today’s State of the Nation Address to begin, former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo unseated erstwhile House Speaker, Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez.
The events unfolded on live television, even as official broadcaster Radio TV Malacanang cut-off the audio and prevented Arroyo from addressing the chamber on the microphone — which explains this iconic shot of her on the podium, screaming between cupped hands, at the melee of congresspersons and other government officials on the floor.
Some noted how appropriate the visual was in depicting the ‘actual’ State of the Nation — a confusing disarray of political machinations.
Talk had already been rife about Arroyo taking over House Speakership as Congress reconvenes for the new session, with some congressmen confirming the ouster plot early this morning.
While Alvarez ended up seated behind the President during the SONA after much drama, Arroyo eventually formally secured the House Speakership with 184 votes, becoming the first woman to hold the post.
Controversial elections
Among the first who expressed dismay at the development was Sen. Grace Poe, whose father Fernando Poe Jr. was Arroyo’s closest rival in the controversial 2004 presidential elections.
Electoral fraud allegations, most notably the “Hello Garci” scandal involving wiretapped conversations between then President Arroyo and Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano purportedly about “protecting” Arroyo’s million-vote lead over Poe, hounded Arroyo throughout her term, which spanned a total of nine years.
Arroyo began her presidency in 2001, after former President Joseph Estrada’s ouster during the People Power II revolt. In 2002, in a stunning announcement on the occasion of Dr Jose Rizal’s death anniversary, Arroyo announced that she was not seeking the presidency in 2004 ‘to unite the country.’
The rest, as they say, is history — Arroyo later went on to win in 2004, and sat as President until 2010. Her administration was marred by several controversies, including the overpriced National Broadband Deal with Chinese company ZTE, and the Fertilizer Fund Scam, to name a few.
She outlasted impeachment complaint after impeachment complaint, the 2003 Oakwood Mutiny, the 2006 Marine Standoff, and the 2007 Peninsula siege, and even record-high double-digit inflation and P60/liter oil prices.
After stepping down in 2010, she was succeeded by Benigno Aquino III, under whose administration she was charged with plunder, dramatically stopped at the airport and barred from seeking medical treatment abroad despite a Supreme Court order, served an arrest warrant in the hospital, and subjected to humiliating mugshots. All while being a sitting member of Congress, because she ran as representative of Pampanga’s 2nd district right after stepping down.
She was in hospital arrest from October 2012 until July 2016, when the Supreme Court acquitted her of plunder and ordered her release, not even a month into the administration of Aquino’s successor.
Considering just how much she’s survived in all her years in Malacanang and thereafter, it’s hard not to think about the House Speakership developments as nothing but child’s play in comparison.
Prime Minister?
Will this move to install Arroyo to House Speakership bring this country closer to a new Constitution? After all, Arroyo has been a supporter of Charter Change, with three attempts having happened under her watch. She has supported the shift to federalism ‘to ensure lasting peace in Mindanao’. She has batted for it during her own SONA even.
However, Arroyo has also said that she is not interested in the Prime Minister post.
(Sounds familiar, no?) #
