And you think people hate G.W. Bush

Practically every day since I've been here, there have protests outside the presidential palace, calling for the removal of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (usually "Gloria" or "GMA" for short in the press). Three days ago, police used a water cannon to break up a prayer rally and protest led by several influential priests, elevating the story to the top of the front page for the past several days.

Gloria's view is that the people are tired of the protests. "I'm asking everyone to continue with their work, avoid participating in illegal assemblies and mass actions being pushed by those with self-serving interests and whose only objective is to bring down the country," she said in Filipino, translated to English by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The Inquirer continues:

But Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez was his usual self, saying some of [the protesters] were nothing more than publicity seekers. "I am appalled ... that [the water cannon was used], but I do not condemn the reaction of the police because they're being pushed to the wall. Maybe some who were sprayed with water may have wanted it so they would land in the papers," he said.

This all stems from Gloria's alleged cheating in the last election and the supposed illegal removal of the popular former president Joseph Estrada. I haven't been here long enough to figure out which paper is pushing which agenda, but the feeling I've been getting from Filipinos I've spoken with is that the anti-Gloria feeling is widespread among the working class. She's the pro-business candidate, while Estrada, a former movie star, plays the role of populist.

Inquirer columnist Conrado de Quiros, in explaining why his column focuses so frequently on the presidential mess, wrote:

Who doesn't want variety? ... But I always go back to GMA: Because she is there. Because she should not be there. ... The problem is not whether GMA has done good or bad as President, it is whether she has a right to do good or bad as President. She is not the President. The problem is not the conduct of her rule, it is the legitimacy of her rule. The problem is not the quality of her rule, it is the fact that she is ruling. She has no right to. You cheat in an exam, you are expelled from school. You cheat in elections, you are jailed for life.

Most troubling, I think, is the presidential banning of the freedoms of speech and assembly. de Quiros says the country has been "conscripted into silence."

That is what is the killing of the impeachment complaint, the ban on rallies (against GMA, there is no such ban on the pro-GMA), and the ban on public officials appearing before the Senate signify. Collectively, they say that we may no longer talk about the fact that GMA stole the vote.

Bizarre similarities to the U.S. aside -- though I don't think Bush has yet banned rallies against him -- it's a fascinating, and somewhat scary, time in Philippine politics. There are rumors of martial law, a much-disbelieved promise by the president to step down if "the people" demand it and a general feeling of uneasiness about where the country is heading.

We're far enough from downtown Manila that we're generally unaffected by the rallies and protests. Today, though, a large contingent of farmers from the southern provinces marched through our neighborhood on their way to downtown Manila, snarling traffic and bringing out the police in droves. Parked at the gate was a fire truck positioned, apparently, to repel any protesters who decided to stay here rather than continue on downtown.