Arroyo hopes more women will take up speaker’s role

Amid a heated speakership race among male contenders for the 18th Congress, former speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo believes that there are very high chances for a woman to also run for the top House post in the near future.Even as she braced for her retirement as a public official, Arroyo kept mum on her personal choice for speaker, saying she did not want to “pre-empt” members of the next Congress.Those who are vying for the speakership in the 18th Congress are Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano and Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate.Velasco was named the bet of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan.“I don’t want to pre-empt the next Congress. To begin with, I will not be there. I’m just very confident that what they are going to do will be good for the country. Each speaker has his own style,” Arroyo said during a small gathering with members of the House media.“A woman can become speaker as a matter of course. I wouldn’t be surprised because the Philippines is traditionally very progressive when it comes to women’s rights,” she told Manila Times. Arroyo, the first woman House speaker, cited the 2018 report of the World Economic Forum that showed Manila ranking eighth in Global Gender Gap report, with the WEF attributing it to “full parity” on political and economic leadership.Since 2006 under Arroyo’s presidency, the Philippines had been consistently part of the WEF list, running against at least 144 countries.Arroyo recalled that “one of her many memorable moments” in public office was ranking fourth among Forbes Magazine’s Most Powerful Women in 2005 “because it projected a Filipino woman to the world.”“One of the memorable things I would bring with me is I got to work with a lot of young congressmen. And it makes me confident about the future of our country because they will lead the nation when the time comes,” she said.“These people, who are young will aim for the highest leadership later on. They are here… They will do the country well. Wisdom is very important, but you also need energy. But as I said, these young people have the ingredients even as they gain more experience,” Arroyo added.Arroyo stepped down as speaker with a thanksgiving Mass with her family, staff and former cabinet secretaries in her home at La Vista in Quezon City.She ended her 11-month term by fulfilling the legislative agenda of President Rodrigo Duterte.The list includes his priority measures — the Universal Health Care Act, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, and the liberalisation of the importation, exportation and trading of rice — which the president ticked off in his State of the Nation Address.Under her leadership, the House approved a total of 909 measures, 250 of which became national laws.Arroyo is set to work as consultant to her home province of Pampanga to help in implementing its “megalopolis” project.The project aims to make the province the “gateway to Asia” through the development of cluster cities employing agriculture, ecology, air transportation, marine life and technologies.