Filipinos will not see the last of outgoing president Gloria M. Arroyo when she turns over power to President-elect Benigno Simeon “Noynoy“ Aquino

June 30.

Mrs. Arroyo, widely perceived as  “unpopular “ compared to all  previous Philippine Presidents and with the lowest credibility ratings, may be leaving  the confines of Malacanang Palace but will resurrect in the lower house of   Philippine Congress as an elected representative for her district in Pampanga.

And bets are high that she might become the first ever woman speaker of the House of Representatives.

And so, exorcising bitter memories of her scandal-plague administration  would make  Father Karras (of the movie Exorcist fame) look like a quack doctor.

Like it or not, the spectre and influence of La Gloria Arroyo will still be around us and even at her former roosting place.. in Malacanang .

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RECORDS AND COMPARISON ? The eventual assumption  of Noynoy as the nation’s chief executive establishes some sort of  record and firsts in our political history.

Consider this: A student succeeds his teacher to the presidency of the Philippines but they belong to opposing sides .

Noynoy was a student of Mrs. Gloria Arroyo at Ateneo de Manila.

Describing  her former mentor as a “brilliant teacher” ,Noynoy studied

Micro-economics  and got a grade of B+ from her.

As the saying goes, it is the teacher who helps mold the thinking and character of her student.

Could it be therefore, that some economic policies of  president-elect Aquino could be along the same lines as her “guru“ Mrs. Arroyo?

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LIKE FATHER,LIKE MOTHER: Noynoy and La Gloria share similarities and fates in history. Both had parents who once served as Philippine presidents and in the years to come, they followed their footsteps.

Gloria’s father, the late Diosdado Macapagal, was the 9^th President of the Philippines who served from December 30,1961 to December 30,1965.

Noynoy’s Mom, the late President Corazon “Cory “ Aquino was the iconic symbol of a decade that set free a nation from a 20-year dictatorship in February 1986, becoming the 11^th President of the Republic.

Mrs. Aquino inspired  a worldwide people power  movement that saw the collapse of some communist states notably in Poland and Romania and the dismantling of the infamous Berlin wall that reunified West and East Germany .

During her time a Constitutional Convention changed the tenure of Philippine presidents to a single 6-year term instead of the two four-year

terms.

Mrs. Aquino ruled up to June 30,1992.

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NOT BAD AT ALL: Mrs. Arroyo was not a bad president after all. Next to former President Fidel V. Ramos, Mrs. Arroyo steered the country to a more stable economic footing despite the  global recession and other negative factors that hounded other Asian nations. In the dying months of her term, the Philippines registered a 7.3 percent gross domestic product (GDP)growth

rate in the first quarter of 2010,a figure experts said was a “:big leap from the same quarter of last year when the country logged an anemic 0.5 economic growth rate.

this positive outlook according to experts, was spurred by the rise in OFWs remittances, election spending and an “improved business and consumer

confidence“.

But whether Mrs Arroyo’s handling of the Philippine economy has cascaded to the benefit of the poorest of the poorest or alleviated poverty in her span of tenure is another matter open to discussion.

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UNFOLDING CAMELOT PHILIPPINE STYLE: Already, The Aquino family is being touted as the new “Camelot “, a term associated with the Kennedy family of America after the death of US President John F. Kennedy  in 1963.

Camelot refers to the  court of King Arthur and his legendary Knights of the Round Table. Their story revolves around a tale of heroism, tragedy and love.

Mrs. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, days after her husband’s death told journalist friend Theodore White of Life Magazine that  Kennedy’s

Presidency “was an American Camelot , a period of hope and optimism “

In the same way, Noynoy’s ascension to the highest post of the land was spurred by great expectations of hope and change for the better. and therefore….he must not disappoint them.

If he fails them, Camelot will only remain as a dream, much like the final song of the Broadway musical of the same title written by Alan Joy Lerner :

“Don’t let it be forgotten. That once there was a spot for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot“.

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TIDBITS:  This writer would like to thank Ms. Rosemer Enverga,

Quiapo, Quiapo restaurant owner Bobby Asuncion, accounting executive Ted Dayno and media colleague Romy Marquez for presiding over a very successful Philippine Press Club of Ontario (PPCO) 2010 election of new officers.

I also congratulate the whole PPCO membership for expressing their choices in a very democratic and responsible exercise and we hope this could set an example for other community organizations. I wish to extend my felicitations to the  new officers of the PPCO led by Paul la Cruz and to all of the candidates who expressed their willingness to serve the organization and the community.