Arroyo tries to reel Duterte back into national politics

FORMER PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has encouraged ex-president Rodrigo R. Duterte to take an active role in Philippine politics when they met recently — a photo of which has circulated and stirred speculations on social media.

Seen in the photo of that meeting were former senator and 2022 vice presidential candidate Vicente C. Sotto III, Mr. Duterte’s former executive secretary Salvador Medialdea and Senator Christopher Lawrence T. Go.

In a statement, Mr. Go said Ms. Arroyo invited Mr. Duterte to the “informal” meeting through one of her staff members.

The senator added that since the invitation coincided with Mr. Duterte’s visit to Manila for a medical check-up, Mr. Sotto also grabbed the opportunity to meet with the former president who hails from Davao.

Earlier, Ms. Arroyo also met with former Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo in a social dinner with “mutual friends from Bicol.”

“We chatted about Bicol politics,” Ms. Arroyo said in a statement about their meeting last week.

Fault lines emerged within the ruling coalition following an alleged House leadership dispute in May involving Ms. Arroyo, a known power broker in Philippine politics, and House Speaker Martin G. Romualdez, a cousin of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.

Ms. Arroyo was a key backer of the political alliance between Mr. Marcos and then vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte-Carpio during the 2022 campaign.

Mr. Marcos is seen veering away from the foreign policy of his predecessor, Mr. Duterte, who led a pivot to China in 2016 in exchange of investment pledges, few of which have since materialized.

Mr. Duterte has criticized the Philippine leader’s decision to expand the country’s 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation (EDCA) with the US, which China has also opposed. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza