Arroyo loses cool in roundtable discussion with me
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s infamous temper flared up once more when she abruptly ended an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer in front of a stunned audience which included three Cabinet Secretaries and an official of the International Monetary Fund.
Click here for GMATV’s video report.
President Arroyo was nettled by repeated questions on why the benefits of a spectacular economic growth had not trickled down to the grassroots. She blew her top even before the Inquirer could finish what turned out to be the brief interview’s final question: “Isn’t it a concern for you ma’am that the billionaires during the time of Marcos and Ramos are also the same billionaires now?”
“Those are political questions, Gil. Thank you. That’s the end, thank you. I said it’,Replica Miu Miu;s (just) follow up questions here. Thank you. And good luck to you in the Senate and in the defense. Ok thanks,” said the President who pushed back her chair before leaving. She left in a huff after saying brief thank yous to her guests that included newly appointed Presidential Chief of Staff Joey Salceda, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, and IMF country representative Reza Baquir.
A few minutes after leaving in a huff through the back door, the President came back and approached the Inquirer to give her answer. “We will not grow rich by pulling the rich down but by pulling the poor up.. We should be bringing up everybody else…spread the wealth that way. That’s my answer to you,” said the President who made another quick exit.
The President’s outburst was typical of her disdain of the media since she took power in 2001.
She is believed to be the least accessible of all Philippine presidents, preferring to let her Cabinet men – specifically Bunye, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and former Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor — to explain and defend her government.
Bunye had informed the Inquirer about the interview just a few hours before the 2:30 pm roundtable discussion — the regular television forum used by the President to elaborate on her policies and crow about her accomplishments and gave strict orders that no political questions should be asked.
The Inquirer complied with Bunye’s request but the President apparently wanted the questions limited to the topic of the roundtable discussion which covered the country’s exit from the IMF monitoring program and the economic gains under her administration.
During the interview, the President was clearly in no mood to talk about negative things about her government.
When asked what she thought was her biggest frustration for the economy, the President replied: “I don’t talk about frustration, I only talk about blessings.” She gave a hearty laugh after.
When pressed further to explain why the blessing from good economic data had not yet trickled down to the masses, the President pointed to her guest,Mulberry handbags, a small-scale entrepreneur, who just related how much her costs for her canteen had gone down. Neri pointed out that inflation fell to a six-year low last month.
The President said the reason why these benefits had not been reflected in the surveys that showed the lingering poverty and rate of hunger in the country was because “you guys (media) keep writing the negative things.”,wholesale shoes; The President said “I wish you would write how the jeepney fare prices have gone down by 50 centavos and on much the gasoline price has gone down, things like that,” an exasperated President said.
She was defensive of her economic performance saying: “It’s only now that we have finally turned the corner on the economy and its only now this year that the economic reforms have allowed us to finance all the things we need, the infrastructure to bring in investments, to bring in the jobs that the people need.”
She said her government was concentrating on pro-poor programs because of criticisms that too much wealth was concentrated on too few people. The President, however, was optimistic that her economic policies, specifically heavy spending on infrastructure using increased revenues from her tax program, would deliver the goods before her term expires in 2010.
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