Under fire

摘要

Judging by past precedent, Gloria Ma-capagal Arroyo's days as president of the Philippines should be numbered. By her own admission, she telephoned an election official amid the counting of votes in last year's presidential election, in what could be construed as an attempt to rig the vote. In 1987, similar suspicions of ballot tampering led to the demonstrations that brought down Ferdinand Marcos, the Philippines' strongman of 20 years. Meanwhile, Mrs Arroyo's husband, son and brother-in-law have been accused of pocketing bribes from illegal gambling syndi-cates-exactly the charge that prompted the Philippines' second "people power" revolution, against Joseph Estrada, in 2001. Despite this record, however, most Filipinos seem disinclined to oust their president this time round.