The Path to The Palace.(Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo)(Brief Article)

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Bill Clinton crossed paths as classmates at Georgetown University. But the Philippines' new president actually has more in common with George W. Bush: they were inaugurated on the same day, they both succeeded inveterate womanizers and--the clincher--they are both children of popular former presidents. The difference: Arroyo still seeks daily guidance and inspiration from her father, Diosdado Macapagal, even though he's been out of office for 35 years--and passed away a decade ago. Arroyo, a devout Roman Catholic, rarely goes anywhere without a Bible and a copy of her father's memoir, "Stone for the Edifice." She consults the book every day, especially when facing a tough decision, and she asks her speechwriter to work in a reference to him in nearly every speech she makes. "I've read his memoirs over and over again," Arroyo told NEWSWEEK in an interview late last year. "I'm almost repeating his steps."

Now she truly is. Becoming president has been part of Arroyo's ambitions from the time she lived in Malacanang Palace. "Ever since she was a girl, Gloria has been obsessed with carrying on her father's legacy," says Larry Henares, a family friend who served as a cabinet member in her father's administration. Unlike Corazon Aquino, who was thrust into politics by the assassination of her husband, Benigno, in 1983, Arroyo has prepared herself for this moment all her life. It is no accident that, even with her association with Joseph Estrada, she has been able to become the most popular politician in the Philippines. Her father, the son of a poor laundrywoman, was regarded as an honest but calculating politician. Arroyo, too, is not an idealist or a moral beacon, but a pragmatist who carefully gets things done. "She is very deliberate," says Rene Velasco, one of her top advisers. "She's never impulsive."

It's hard to imagine anyone more different from Estrada than Arroyo. A highly educated member of the ruling elite--she got her Ph.D. in macroeconomics--Arroyo is considered a disciplined, hard-working perfectionist. Back in November, when she decided to quit her cabinet post to lead the anti-Estrada forces, Vice President Arroyo began assembling a transition team to line up ministers and develop a 100-day plan for her eventual administration. She tried to include a broad coalition of opposition groups to ensure the plan's success. Still, it will be a challenge to balance the Philippines' political forces, even as ...