Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo served as president of the Republic of the Philippines from 2001 to 2009, the country's second female president. She was also the country's first female vice president.

Macapagal was born April 5, 1947. Her father was Diosdado Macapagal, who later served as Philippine president from 1961 to 1965. She studied at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and graduated magna cum laude from Assumption College with a bachelor's degree in commerce. She earned a master's degree in economics from the Ateneo de Manila University, and a master's degree and Ph.D. in economics from the University of the Philippines. She began her professional career as a teacher at Assumption College. She later became an assistant professor at the Ateneo de Manila University and a senior lecturer at the UP School of Economics.

Macapagal-Arroyo entered government service as an assistant secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry during the Aquino Administration in 1987. She also became executive director of the Garments and Textile Export Board and rose to the rank of undersecretary of Trade and Industry. During her tenure in the Philippines Senate (1992 to 1998), she authored 55 laws on economic and social reform and was named Outstanding Senator several times. In 1998, she became the country's first female vice president, and was concurrently appointed as secretary of social welfare and development, a post she held until her resignation from the Cabinet on October 12, 2000. She was sworn in as president on January 20, 2001, during the impeachment trial of President Joseph Estrada.

After her second term as president, Macapagal-Arroyo was elected to the House of Representatives in the Philippines, the first person to hold elective office in the Philippines after serving as president.

Sources:

Council of Women World Leaders (n.d.). “GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO” Council of Women World Leaders. Retrieved December 5, 2022. https://www.councilwomenworldleaders.org/gloria-macapagal-arroyo.html

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (2007, July 27). “Gloria Macapagal Arroyo: president of the Philippines.” Britannica. Retrieved December 5, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gloria-Macapagal-Arroyo

International Comission Against the Death Penalty (n.d.). “Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo” International Comission Against the Death Penalty. Retrieved December 5, 2022. https://icomdp.org/comission/gloria-macapagal-arroyo-2/