In Manila, U.S. drawn into fight
By Raymond Bonner and Carlos H. Conde The New York Times
SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2005
MANILA President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been beleaguered by charges
of election fraud and corruption, and faces demands for her removal. Now the
U.S. Embassy has been drawn in.
The embassy, fearing a coup or martial law or chaos, has issued a series
of public statements and warnings, including an interview by the acting
ambassador on a popular television show. Many Filipinos on both sides of the
feud appear to have welcomed what in the past they would have condemned as
American interference.
Already Arroyo has been forced to send her husband, José Miguel Arroyo,
who is accused of taking bribes from gambling syndicates, into exile. But the
political crisis continues.
Opposition legislators have begun drafting articles of impeachment. She
has lost the support of many church and business leaders and civic groups, and
much of her cabinet has resigned, saying she has lost the credibility needed to
govern.
Arroyo made a surprise appearance at the U.S. Embassy's Fourth of July
celebration. This was the first time she attended in four years as president.
"She wanted to send a signal," Rigoberto Tiglao, a senior adviser to
Arroyo, said. The opposition was spreading rumors that the Bush administration
had withdrawn its support, and by attending she was seeking to rebut that
notion, he said.
"If Americans decide to drop support of the Philippine president, it
crumbles," he said.
Corazon Soliman, who was director of the Department of Social Welfare and
Development and is one of the officials who resigned, said, "What everyone is
trying to do is get the American approval."
What is on the minds of many here is 1986, when the Reagan administration
sent a message to Ferdinand Marcos, the dictator, that it was "time to cut, and
cut cleanly." That came after weeks of street demonstrations that gave rise to
the term "people power" and was considered the final blow to Marcos.
Without a resolution of the political battles, the country faces
stagnation, diplomats and neutral Philippine analysts said.
What the country needs, they say, is decisive leadership to address the
economic and social problems in a country long ruled by an elite that has grown
more wealthy while the huge numbers of poor get poorer and the middle class
flees to jobs in America, Australia and Canada.
While not seeking to diminish the seriousness of the political crisis,
one Western diplomat described it as "the elites squabbling among themselves,"
with little influence on the daily life of most of the 84 million Filipinos,
who have grown accustomed to politicians slinging mud, using their office for
personal gain, and not delivering programs that help them.
Arroyo came to power in 2001 after another round of political turmoil in
which President Joseph Estrada was forced out of office by allegations that he
had received payoffs from gambling lords. Arroyo, who was vice president,
succeeded him and generated great hope with her promises to clean up the
political system, reduce the power and privileges of the elite, collect taxes
and help the poor.
It was an ambitious agenda, but she made some progress.
"My four years and seven months had really shown me the good side of
government and the possibility of reform," said Soliman, the welfare director
who resigned. Soliman is also a community organizer who was active in the
popular demonstrations that toppled Marcos and Estrada.
During the presidential election, in which Arroyo's main challenger was a
high school dropout and actor, Fernando Poe Jr., Arroyo won by a million votes.
But the political storm, already brewing over allegations that her husband and
one of her sons, Juan Miguel, were taking bribes from illegal gambling
operators, gathered force as rumors intensified that she had been taped telling
an election official to pad her victory margin. Her husband and son, now in San
Francisco, have denied allegations against them.
After repeated denials, Arroyo went on television, admitted she had
spoken to election officials and apologized for a "lapse in judgment." She
insisted that she was only trying to protect her legitimate vote.
A few days later, the Supreme Court blocked her administration from
increasing a value-added tax that Arroyo had worked to pass, and several
cabinet members became convinced that she had intervened with the court, two
former members said, fearing that a tax increase at this time would strengthen
the street demonstrations.
Tiglao, the adviser to Arroyo, denied that she had done anything improper
to influence the court. But a week after the decision, 10 senior cabinet
members resigned, and more have resigned since.
The day of the resignations, the acting American ambassador, Joseph
Mussomeli, gave an interview to Dateline Philippines, a television news show
that has a broad audience for its anchor, Ricky Carandang. The interview was a
delicate balancing act by Mussomeli, a career diplomat. He praised the cabinet
members who had resigned "as very decent people" and "patriots." When Carandang
asked if Mussomeli could "categorically" state that the United States supported
Arroyo, he replied, "I could categorically tell you that we support the rule of
law."
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