Former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will not be seeking a return to the Senate but will seek another term as congresswoman of Pampanga’s 2nd district.

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“To clarify, I will not be seeking a Senate seat in the upcoming election, as I have no intention of pursuing that role again. I have officially declared my candidacy for a second term as Congresswoman of the second district of Pampanga, where I am committed to addressing the needs and priorities of my constituency and the province of Pampanga,” she said in a statement.

Arroyo, a former trade undersecretary under President Cory Aquino, served 2 terms as senator before being elected vice-president in 1998.

She succeeded former President Joseph Estrada in 2001 after the 4-day EDSA Dos revolt and then won a fresh six-year mandate after winning the 2004 presidential election, an electoral exercise that was marred by cheating allegations.

Arroyo was elected congresswoman of the 2nd district of Pampanga in 2010 but was jailed in 2011 on electoral sabotage and later plunder charges. She remained detained before being freed in July 2016 after the Supreme Court ruled to dismiss the plunder case against her.

Arroyo was elected as the first female speaker of the House of Representatives in 2018 and served for less than a year after retiring from politics in 2019. 

In 2022, she returned to politics after running unopposed as congresswoman of Pampanga’s 2nd district.