NEWSFLASH
GMA GETS OVER INSECURITIES
Malacanang, Jan. 27, 2001 - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is no longer insecure about her height, or lack of it.
The President, interviewed Thursday night by TV talk show host Boy Abunda on cable Channel 21, stated her exact height without batting an eyelash: "Four-foot-eleven."
Mrs. Arroyo, who has always been perceived to be a look-alike of actress-singer Nora Aunor, admitted that when she was younger, she was a bit bothered when other people made a big deal about her size.
This, she reasoned, initially caused her some "insecurities."
"I was always conscious about that before. But I was able to cope with it," she said.
Mrs. Arroyo said that there are far greater things to worry about the country than how one looks.
"You know, I don’t think of myself as a great beauty at all. And I’m not physically vain. So I don’t reflect upon my physical qualities," Mrs. Arroyo told Abunda.
This is the reason why she did not take along any fashion consultant or in-house make-up artist when she moved into Malacañang soon after the second successful people power revolt in 15 years.
"I think those superficial things are very far from my mind because we have so many substantive problems to attend to. I’m not vain," the President said.
The main thing, she added, is not how she dresses up but how well she copes with the rigors of her job.
She took exception to accusations that her handlers deliberately used her being a deadringer for Aunor, a popular icon, to bring in the votes especially during election time.
Both are diminutive, have prominent moles on their cheeks, though one is morena and the other fair-skinned.
"I happen to look like her (Aunor). So it’s not a question of sadya. I did not have a facelift or I did not culture my makeup to look like her," she pointed out.
At her age of 53, she said, only once did she have minor face surgery for removal of a mole slowly growing larger on her forehead.
She said she almost had the cheek mole removed, too, but since it was not potentially cancerous, and her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo considered it a beauty spot, the mole stayed.
"I think he loves it (mole on left cheek)," she said.
And like a seasoned politician, she said she likes both Aunor and her archrival of three decades, Vilma Santos.
The President confessed that she is amused at being the latest butt of text jokes - mainly about her "cuteness" - sent through mobile phone, saying that "it’s an occupational hazard."
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