President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had the new mussaenda hybrid plant named after her in Malacańang. Reportedly it is also the first mussaenda hybrid named after a Philippine President and officially registered with the National Seed Industry Council of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

The plant was presented to Arroyo by University of the Philippines (UP) president Emerlinda Roman, plant breeder Dr. Teresita Lazaro of the UP Los Banos College of Agriculture, and UP Chancellor Luis Rey Velasco.

The variety is considered a centennial breakthrough in Philippine horticulture. Early mussaenda hybrids were bred in 1948 by Dr. Dioscoro Umali, the former dean of the UP Los Banos College of Agriculture. Subsequent breeds were named after Philippine First Ladies.

Lazaro said the new hybrid suits President Arroyo,as it a combination of mussaenda parents "Dona Aurora" and "Dona Evangelina," the President's mother.

The new hybrid can be reproduced only by grafting, while earlier hybrids could only be done through stem cuttings.