Gloria on country’s woes: What, me worry?

An angry mob was at her doorstep, the peso went into a near free fall, and terrorists continue to outwit her forces.

But in her sixth month in office, and on the eve of her first State of the Nation Address, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo looks relaxed and confident.

For one, she does not worry.

"I cannot afford to worry. If I worried on May 1, I would not have made it. If I worried about the (Omnibus) Power Bill, I would not have made it. Because I am very focused, my mind must not be thinking worried. It must be thinking, ‘What do we do’?" Mrs. Arroyo said during a luncheon yesterday with some women journalists at the Manila Hotel.

A mob of some 40,000 supporters of deposed President Joseph Estrada stormed the Palace on May 1. The peso skidded to a low of 54 to the dollar last week, its lowest level since she assumed the presidency on Jan. 20, when it reached a high of 48 to $1.

But Mrs. Arroyo continues to remain on the saddle despite the turbulent ride and has in fact, gained weight after losing over 20 pounds in the first few months of her presidency.

She does not dwell on her personal problems either, and concedes that her husband Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo is the one having a tougher time.

"I belong to a political family and can roll with the punches," she points out, noting the controversies that have upset her husband in recent days, including his alleged intervention of the revocation of a veto she had made.

The President says her husband has "not much" influence on her when it comes to governance, but concedes she values his advice on other matters.

"Like a speech. If he understands it, then the layman can. He helps me to bring the technical language down to layman’s terms," she adds.

She has rehearsed her forthcoming 30-page State of the Nation Address four times in his presence.

"He fell asleep the first two times, but stayed awake the next two. If Mike cannot understand, the layman won’t, either," she laughs.

Her 40-minute SONA will dwell substantially on poverty alleviation and agricultural modernization, which she expects to produce some one million jobs.

To show her determination to enforce the agricultural modernization program, Mrs. Arroyo said she will start holding office at the Department of Agriculture in the days after her SONA.