Entry into Politics                                                                            

Although her father served as president of the Philippines, Arroyo did not enter politics until 1992, twenty-seven years after her father left office. She was elected to the Philippine Senate in 1992 and was reelected in 1995, topping the senatorial elections with nearly 16 million votes.

As a legislator, Arroyo filed over 400 bills and authored or sponsored 55 laws of economic importance during her tenure as senator.

In 1998, she briefly considered a run for the presidency but was convinced by President Fidel V. Ramos to join the ruling LAKAS Party as the running mate of its presidential candidate, House Speaker Jose De Venecia. De Venecia and Arroyo ran a nationwide campaign supported by Ramos and the powerful LAKAS machinery. Arroyo won as vice president with almost 13 million votes, more than twice the votes of her closest opponent, Senator Edgardo Angara. But De Venecia lost to the popular incumbent vice president, Joseph Estrada.