There is a phrase in colloquial Spanish: Sentarse en la orilla del arroyo. In English, it literally means "sitting on the edge of the stream." Metaphorically, it means someone who is biding his time, contemplating certain events, waiting for the right time to act.

It is, of course, a mere happenstance that the expression contains the name of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. It is uncanny, though, that that is really her style when faced with important choices. In the time that I have known her (since 2011), she was never one to take precipitate action.

Au contraire, all her decisions were arrived at after cool and mature reflection and consideration of all available facts and possible consequences. While she is definitely a woman of action, she only takes informed and well-considered measures. And I am amazed that she is able to do this even under the most tumultuous of circumstances.

I can recall her, in November 2011, sitting calmly in her wheelchair in the Dignitaries Lounge of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport while her staff and lawyers (including this representation) argued with immigration authorities as to why she was being barred from leaving notwithstanding a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court against then Justice Secretary De Lima's hold-departure order.

When the confrontation threatened to become physical — after an idiotic immigration officer refused to return the former President's passport and I jumped over the counter (no mean feat considering my height) — to try and wrestle it away from him — she gently told us that it was time to call it a day.

Nothing to be gained by escalating into violence, she said, since she saw that there were enough hotheads among her supporters who were spoiling for an actual fight. And so was a potential melee nipped in the bud. As for De Lima and then Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas, who colluded to defy the Supreme Court, their karma was not long in coming.

One political pundit recently remarked that Mrs. Arroyo, in the face of her removal as Deputy Speaker of the House, seems to be quite quiet these days, adding (quite ominously) that she is "more scary" when she is silent. Coming in the wake of her prior ouster as Senior Deputy Speaker, she has accepted the most recent "demotion" with amazing grace, thereafter affirming support for the Speaker and the administration after congratulating Romualdez earlier on his good poll numbers.

The pundit may have a point. Mrs. Arroyo is the same woman who survived numerous coup attempts by some of the meanest mofos in the military, and who emerged as the topnotcher in her senatorial reelection bid in 1992 after being a tail-ender in her first attempt during the first senatorial elections under the 1987 Constitution. 

And, yes, the same person who staved off a strong challenge for the presidency in 2004 from a very popular opponent (screen legend Fernando Poe Jr.) who was miles ahead of her in the surveys when the campaign started. And how can one forget the blitzkrieg she pulled off in 2018 when, in a stunning return to high office, she pulled the Speakership rug from under Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez?

Madame Gloria may be calm at present, sitting on the edge of the stream that runs calmly sometimes but turns into a raging torrent when there is a storm. But just like when she was mercilessly persecuted under the Aquino regime, one cannot underestimate her capacity to stage a comeback when it is least expected.

She sits wordlessly now, reflecting, contemplating, thinking deeply. When the torrential rains come, we shall see what will happen.