Interview with Arroyo
	"It's Not a Sprint: It's a Marathon"

Posted Monday, June 28, 2003; 21:00 HKT

Click here for the extended transcript

Although she wasn't elected to the job, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has served with the vigor of a candidate perpetually on the campaign trail. Meeting with TIME Asia managing editor Karl Taro Greenfeld, business correspondent Michael Schuman and Manila correspondent Nelly Sindayen in the presidential office in Malacañang Palace, Arroyo describes a difficult two years—and discusses whether she intends to run in the election scheduled for May 2004.

TIME: Have you accomplished what you set out to do?
Arroyo: I inherited a complex nation with complex problems, both domestically and internationally. And I came in realizing that there is no silver bullet. It's not a sprint: it's a marathon. Nonetheless, a lot of things have been done. Our interest rates are at their lowest in about a generation. Our peso is stable. And we have been doing very important reform legislation that's been waiting for decades.

TIME: Will you run again in 2004?
Arroyo: I made my declaration [not to run] on Dec. 30, because I don't want to be distracted by politics. I must not even talk politics but rather talk about reforms. I have been able to do unpopular things. Making peace with the MILF is not totally popular. But we have been doggedly pushing the peace process forward. And I am feeling very gratified that this is now within grasp. These are the things that occupy my time; they occupy my energies.

TIME: Some security experts think the Philippines is now one of the weakest links in the war on terror. Is it contradictory to prosecute the war on terror while trying to make peace with the MILF?
Arroyo: No. It's not contradictory. They have renounced terrorism, and they are helping us find [escaped terrorist] al-Ghozi. Now he has nowhere to run and hide. He is not going to be coddled and protected. He's going to be spurned or even interdicted.

TIME: Are you very confident that there are no more camps where Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorists can be trained in Mindanao?
Arroyo: If there are camps, the peace talks do not in any way prevent us from hitting those camps. If there are camps, they are JI camps. There is nothing in the terms of reference of the proposed peace talks that says that we will not go against terrorism, that we will not enforce the law.

TIME: How does the Philippines compete internationally, with concerns about security, competition from China, the reputation of the whole region?
Arroyo: We have to strengthen our domestic economy. So that no matter what happens in the outside world, we are resilient. And we did. The proof of the pudding is that all these years our growth rates have been better than many of our neighbors' and our trading partners'.

TIME: In just one more year, can you achieve everything you want with the economy?
Arroyo: What is important is that we set irreversible directions, that we don't move backwards.

TIME: That has been crucial to negotiations from the beginning, right? Recognizing political aspirations without recognizing terrorism.
Arroyo: When I first came in, we were already talking with the MILF. It got complicated after 9/11; [our] stance on terrorism vis-a-vis peace talks with the MILF had to be made very clear. But I think that that clarifying this in deed and in word is what has also helped move the peace process forward.

	Terrorism Released [July 21, 2003] Criticism falls on Manila's security apparatus as JI bombmaker escapes First Bali, now Davao [March 13, 2003] The bombing at an airport in the Philippines shows the threat that terrorists still pose in Asia The Philippines' Terrorist Refuge [February 17, 2003] Mindanao's Islamic separatists are back to harboring and training the region's terrorists The Long Goodbye [January 6, 2003] Arroyo vows to step aside in 2004, but the Philippine President's self-sacrifice might backfire More Related Items | Search all issues of TIME Magazine