Her daring motion will make “the subsequent 18 months very interesting” as she achieves a political transition, predicted Earl Parreno of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform.
She believes she is positioning herself as a possible successor to Duterte. Arroyo might be a powerful political candidate, competing against Duterte’s daughter, Davao Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jnr, he said.
Duterte’s daughter was involved within the plot to appoint Arroyo as speaker, Rep. Fredenil Castro has confirmed. The political spat infuriated Duterte to the purpose that he threatened to go away Congress minutes before his speech. Senate President Vicente Sotto witnessed the drama and quoted Duterte as saying: “I will just leave if [the two] don’t settle it.”
Parreno believes that Beijing prefers Arroyo because she has proven to be a superb friend of China.
Analysts have long written off Arroyo because she was seemingly content to be kingmaker in Duterte’s shadow after supporting his presidential bid.
In gratitude, and maybe as a part of the exchange deal, Duterte helped her political rehabilitation, taking her with him on his official trips to China and giving her a crucial role ultimately yr’s ASEAN summit in Manila.
Few predicted that a “change within the statute” might be Arroyo’s ticket to a different probability at the very best office within the country. The current Philippine structure limits the re-election of presidents and lawmakers like her to a few consecutive three-year terms, or a complete of nine years.
But Duterte is trying to alter. He submitted to Congress a draft structure that will establish a federal system of presidency. Under the most recent proposal, former presidents can run for the highest job again after 2022, but Duterte cannot.
However, once ratified, a “transitional president” will probably be elected to oversee the transition from unitary to federal. Duterte has promised to resign to make way for an interim president, but nothing in the brand new proposal prevents him from running for the position.
Arroyo, first elected to Congress in 2010, cannot run for congresswoman again in May 2019, but she will run for every other position.
Until this week, being elected senator seemed bleak. A brand new poll by Pulse Asia found that while respondents were 98% aware of Arroyo, only 10.8% said they might vote for her as senator.
Parreno admitted that the majority Filipinos still have a negative opinion of her attributable to the electoral and financial scandals by which she was embroiled. He noted, nevertheless, that “people’s perceptions are changing quickly.”
He also said that in comparison with former speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Arroyo was higher capable of implement Duterte’s pet measures resembling a charter change and tax reform package, “receiving the political debt” from lawmakers she favored during nine years of her presidency.
On Monday, Arroyo promised to approve Duterte’s animal measures.
Arroyo has 10 months to alter its image. She has a difficult task ahead of her. She still faces an election sabotage case referring to the 2004 vote between her and the late actor Fernando Poe Jnr. However, she managed to get 4 corruption cases dismissed.
One of the dismissed cases involved a $329 million deal for a broadband project with China’s NBN-ZTE in 2007. Arroyo abruptly dropped the deal after finding the deal was overpriced. Several Filipino officials had been bribed and she or he knew it.
In 2011, Arroyo was arrested. Some lawmakers who praised then-President Benigno Aquino also voted for her to change into speaker on Monday. Due to spine problems, she was hospitalized for nearly five years until Duterte helped free her.
Her sudden emergence as a number one figure alarmed Senator Grace Poe, the late actor’s daughter. The family accused Arroyo of fraud.
Poe warned Tuesday on radio station DZBB: “My compatriots, be prepared. You can just wake up and see her as powerful as [Duterte] or becoming prime minister.”
Unlike Duterte, Arroyo prefers a parliamentary form of presidency led by a main minister and without term limits.
This article appeared within the print edition of the South China Morning Post as: Arroyo returns as a key player
