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Arroyo Administration (2001 - 2010)
The Arroyo Administration started as a result of the tumultuous exit of Former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada on the 20th of January 2001. However, Joseph Estrada's exit from his seat of presidency was the outcome of the Second People Power Revolution, held in EDSA. The Second EDSA Revolution was met with much criticism from the international community as it defeated the purpose of due process, since this was the time of the highly publicized impeachment trial of the Former President Estrada. In the constitution, Article VII, Section 11 states that in any case that the current President is incapable of continuing his duties as President, all rights, powers, and duties will be passed on to the Vice President, which in this case is Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. However, much speculation was put into how constitutional was Former President Estrada's exit as it was only announced through a statement on the 20th of January 2001, with no tangible and evidences of incapacity to continue serving as the President.

As President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo promised the Philippines that she would not run for presidency in the next elections, however, on the 3rd of October 2003, she changed her mind, roughly nine months after declaring she would not run for Presidency. She subsequently won the 2004 Philippine Elections, and once again, is the President of the Philippines for another 6 years. However, this tumultuous beginning had set the tone for the next 6 years of her term.

Crisis within the Administration
The Arroyo Administration was riddled by its several issues on several forms of violations against human rights. Most of these which include the increase in military power and presence, especially in Muslim Mindanao. The Alston report by Philip Alston, a UN Rapporteur, the one that was published on 2008 was able to chronicle and report the situation he had found while in the Philippines. Many incidents of extrajudicial killings were linked to this report, most notable of which is Sichi Bustamante-Gandinao, who was a direct testimony of the abuses concerning the military.

The Sichi Bustamante-Gandinao Murder
Sichi Bustamante-Gandinao was a peasant organizer in Salay, Misamis Oriental. She was the chairman of the Misamis Oriental Farmers Organization and the coordinator of the party list group called Bayan Muna. She was also an outspoken critic of the actions the Citizens' Armed Force Geographical Unit or CAFGU, and how they disrupt the relatively peaceful communities in Misamis Oriental. Philip Alston was a UN Rapporteur, who had Gandinao as a testimony to the extrajudicial killings, and other violations of human rights the military was practicing, whether it was the military is contested by the Military. The Alston report was published on 2008, which highlighted these abuses through the United Nations General Assembly. On the March of 2007, however, Gandinao, together with her husband and daughter, was walking home after a day of doing farm work. Gandinao was then shot four times by two men on a motorcycle heading towards a nearby military camp, while Gandinao's family helplessly watched the attack. The local officials and passers-by all told Gandinao's husband and daughter that they were too busy to tend to the bleeding Gandinao. According to reports, after two hours of bleeding profusely, the assailants went back to the scene of the crime and even watched the entire ordeal of Gandinao. Her husband had to carry her to the Cagayan de Oro ambulance, which took another hour to get to the actual hospital. In the Cagayan de Oro hospital, Gandinao was pronounced dead on arrival.

Vigilantism and Death Squad
According to the Alston report, the presence of "vigilantism" and Death Squad in Davao has been a commonplace occurrence, and has been going on for some time now, prior to his visit in the Philippines from 2006 - 2007. The Death Squad, however, operate with no intention of hiding their identities, and in broad daylight. Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has held office, aside from a brief stint as a congressman, since 1988. Rodrigo Duterte is known for his strict, anti-criminal approach in governing Davao City. However, in the same report, Rodrigo Duterte has admitted that hundreds of unsolved murders were committed during his time as mayor, and that he takes for "full responsibility" of it. When Duterte was first elected as mayor, he faced a Davao with problems like rampant youth gangs, the New Peoples' Army (NPA) killing policemen routinely, and crime. The Davao Death Squad (DDS) has had over 500 victims since 1998; killing targets in public and in broad daylight. These executions were a response to petty crimes, and targets are sent warnings explaining why they are targeted by the DDS. It was, however, noted that during Duterte's term as mayor, criminal activity has decreased significantly. It should also be noted, however, that there are hundreds of unsolved murders.