Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo comes from a political family, as she too is the daughter of a former president of the Philippines: Diosdado Macapagal. She began her career in the late 80s in the government of Corazon Aquino and became the first female vice-president in June 1998, when Joseph Estrada was elected President.
As Estrada was implicated in an embezzlement scandal, he stepped down early in mid-term in 2001, making way for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was appointed President on January 20 (the 2nd woman to hold this post after Cory Aquino).
In 2004, she won an election tainted by fraud and began a term of office that was marked by several crises and scandals, including a police assault in late 2004 that resulted in the deaths of 12 farm workers and two children.
The following year, recordings of telephone conversations tending to prove electoral fraud during the 2004 elections were released, prompting the resignation of 10 of his ministers. Her departure was even demanded by former president Corazon Aquino, but GMA held firm.
In 2006, she even faced an attempted coup d’état organized by the military. To put an end to this rebellion, she declared a state of emergency. A few months later, she was hospitalized, and on her release abolished the death penalty.
But the worst was yet to come: at the end of 2009, dozens of civilians and journalists were executed in southern Mindanao, in Maguindanao, as they accompanied an opposition gubernatorial candidate on his campaign.
In 2010, she was replaced by Nonoy Aquino, and was soon caught up in cases of electoral fraud and misappropriation of public funds, leading to her arrest and imprisonment (in hospital) for 5 years (from 2011 to 2016).
In 2016, she was finally acquitted by the Supreme Court in a looting case, allowing her to pursue her political career by being appointed by Duterte to the Chamber of Deputies before being elected president.
During her term as President, she nevertheless helped to boost economic growth (averaging 4.5%, with a peak of 7% in 2007). The peso also became stronger during her term, following a controversial VAT law extended to balance the budget deficit.
She also introduced a policy of adjusting public holidays to allow long weekends to be bridged, with the aim of promoting tourism and enabling Filipinos to spend more time with their families.