An Example of Resilience

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

By Aisha Heredia

(page 1 of 3)

Standing in the marble-floored living room of a multimillion-peso home, former President Fidel Ramos, several high-ranking government officials and I chatted in front of a banner that read: “In Commemoration of the 7th Anniversary of edsa ii.” As we sipped glasses of vintage chardonnay I was informed of a morning seven years ago where in that exact location the same government officials stood behind then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as she ascended to the recently vacated office of the Presidency. The morning of January 20, 2001 was less jovial for Mr. Edward Jose, as he recalled heavily armed soldiers surrounding his home and the mounting anxiety of possibly being bombed by the Philippine armed forces. “I wasn’t expecting all of this, I was ready to leave for a game of golf when I was called and asked if Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo could use my home as the staging point.” Mr. Jose could not refuse of course so he welcomed the Philippine government opposition leaders into his home.

This staging point, a short distance from metro Manila’s major highway, Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, commonly known as edsa, held an intimate annual reunion dinner celebrating the day Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo was catapulted into power. She was sworn into the Office of the President after a four-day peaceful People Power II, also known as the edsa ii Revolution (dictator Ferdinand Marcos was deposed during edsa i in 1986). Every year the political leaders behind edsa ii and around thirty guests congress at Mr. Jose’s home to celebrate. Madame President is indeed the woman of the hour.

Upon the President’s arrival everyone in the room paused conversation and watched the armed guards stalk the halls and take their positions. President Arroyo gracefully worked the room, saying hello to both her political allies and her toughest critics, all while remaining detached and cool, the mark of a true diplomat. I stood next to the former President Fidel Ramos, who in an earlier conversation explained how “Not many people can stand at her level.” If I had not been aware that Ramos was President Arroyo’s political mentor, his mischievous grin might have led me to misinterpret that statement as an allusion to the President’s petite stature. Her time in office and his loyalty ensure that Ramos meant only to champion her resilience. Within the seven years of her presidency Mrs. Arroyo withstood four destabilization attempts against her administration, with the most recent being a failed coup attempt during which Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and Army Brigadier General Danilo Lim led armed soldiers in a takeover of the Manila Peninsula hotel on November 29, 2007.