If he steps down in a scandal over an alleged bribe, she will take over for the remainder of his term to 2004. Bill Clinton was Arroyo's classmate at Princeton, but nobody would consider this a threat to her reputation. Today the people-power rallies that toppled Ferdinand Marcos and brought Aquino to power are being replayed, although on a smaller scale. Accused of corruptly receiving cash from gambling syndicates, the president faces widespread calls for his resignation. In the south, the military is tackling a renewed Muslim insurgency that is costing the country more than 700,000 a day.
Senior officers deny repeated rumours of a coup.
The peso has sunk to a historic low. The Philippines, yet again, is in the throes of a political crisis and, as befits a nation steeped in religion, it is looking for a saviour. Arroyo, like Aquino, fits the bill. Far from the presidential netherworld of gambling dens and girlie bars, she plays the clean-living card. Her speeches decry official corruption, which Filipinos complain has become a national way of life.