Speaking Out
Atty, Ignacio R. Bunye
Take a bow, P/SGMA
tr LORIA Macapagal Arroyo has many
lEl"rormers" ln hdr c6brful resume; former
academician, former government technocrat,
former Senator, farmer Vice President cum
cabinet member, former President, former
detainee; former House Speaker,
She-is only the aecond woman to become
President of the Philippines. But she-is the
first and so far the only female Speaker of
' the House of Representatives.
She is only the second President to be
criminally charged and detaiEf .
But iustifiably, the Supreme Court, voting
11-4, dismissed the charges against her'
In effect, the high court ruled that she
did not pocket million of PCSO funds as
alleged. She did"50not pocket F1 million. She
did not even pocket a single Peso.
compared to both her predecessors and
: her successors, Arroyo is the least popular'
But she delivered where it counted most.
Bbing only the second economist to be
elected President (her father President
Diosdado Macapagal was the first) she
was laser-focusedon growing the economy
and in significantly reducing the countryS
.poverty incldence.
Even her harshGt critics will find itdifficult
to dispute. these numbers which my good
friend Tony Lopez of BizNewsAsia likes to
highlight.
During hertenure as President, Lopez as-
serts, Arroyo nearly tripled the size of the
Philippine economy from $74 billion in 2001
to more than.$200 billion in 2010.
Governor/Congr€ssman Joey Salceda
a former student to whom the President
qave the hlqhest mark in her economics
aass - credits the Arroyo presidency for
establishing a record period of continuous
quarterly growth even at the height of the
2008 global flnancial crisis when other
economies floundered.
During her 9 year presidency, the poverty
rate dropped 13 percent - from 39 percent
to 26 percent. :
Incoming House Majority floorleader
Martin Romualdez attributes th's to Armyot
pro-poor projects like the afiord?ble housing
units and conditional cash transfer program
for the poorest of the poor.
.i{nalysts attribute Arroyo! achieve-
rnentsto her bold, albeit unpopular, fiscal
refolms.
The principal of these waq the imple-
mentation of the EVAT which provided the
wherewithal which allowed heradministra- ,
tion to invest in human and plysical infrd-
structure.
Gmd macro-economic fu ndanlbntals.even-
tually resulted in an investrnentgmde rating
forthe counw The impror'edbting, in tum,
haemade tle Philippines more attractive and
more competitive in the global stage.
The one-year stint of Arroyo as House
Speaker in the 17th Congress-was no less
productive. The legislative priorities of the
Duterte administration - identified in the
last SONA - were all passed. Among them
$rere the Banqsamoro Organic' taw (BOL),
measures helDinq coconutfarmbrs and fish-
erfolks, the second trdnch of thg tax reform
law or the Trabaho bill, and ttF expanded
PhilHealth coverage. ;
Arguably, her career is ending on a high
note. :
.l had theJalivilege of serving bs her Press
Secretrymdential spokelperson for
almost six yeirs. My tenure was longer than
tl'ie avemge shelf life of a cabinet member in
- that hiqh-pressure job. At one iime, I even
served as Acting Executive Secietary'
Up close and personal, I had the oppor-
tuniw to observe and admire her best traits
- hard wor& discipline, decisiveness, and
deep abiding faith.
Good luclg Mrs. PresidenvMrs. Speaker.
God speed. i
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