Ex President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo served two terms as president of the Philippines. The first term was 2001 – 2004 and the second term was 2004 – 2010. She was born on April 5, 1947 to Diosdado Pangan Macapagal and his second wife, Evangelina Macaraeg. She has two elder half siblings namely Cielo and Arturo, from her father’s first marriage to Purita De La Rosa. Purita died of malnutrition in 1943. Diosdado’s ancestry can be traced all the way to ancient Filipino royalty, Rajah Lakandula of Saludung.
She spent some years of her life in Lubao, Pampanga before moving to Iligan City in Mindanao. She would travel between Manila and Mindanao until she was eleven. This how she learned numerous dialects like Cebuano, Ilokano and Kapampangan in addition to the primary language Tagalog and foreign languages English and Spanish. When she was fourteen, Diosdado was elected as the ninth president of the Philippines, succeeding Carlos P. Garcia.
She went to Assumption Convent for primary and secondary school. She also went to George University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service in Washington DC and had classes with Bill Clinton. She was a regular on the Dean’s List during her entire stay in the academe. She went to Assumption College for Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and finished in 1968 as magna cum laude. She married lawyer-businessman Jose Miguel Arroyo in the same year. They have three children together, Juan Miguel, Evangelina Lourdes and Diosdado Igancio Jose Maria. She went to Ateneo De Manila University for her Masters in Economics and University of the Philippines for her Doctorate studies.
She pursued her teaching career, which eventually made her the Chairperson of the Economics Department of Assumption College. She was later appointed by then President Corazon Aquino as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry, and then later promoted to Under Secretary and Executive Director of Garments and Textile Export Board.
Her proper political career began as a Senator in 1992 until 1998 with the 1995 re-election in between. She had forty four bills and fifty five laws in the course of both terms, notably the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law, Indigenous People’s Rights Law and Export Development Act. She was elected Vice President with Joseph Ejercito Estrada as President. She eventually replaced Estrada after the latter was ousted due to several charges of graft and corruption. She is currently on her second term as president after being re-elected in 2004.