MANILA -- One and a half months after audio tapes surfaced allegedly showing President Gloria Arroyo cheated her way into office, the Philippines' political crisis is far from settled. There is a general feeling that the country has entered a period of political stalemate. While Arroyo's supporters declare she will never resign, her opponents claim she has lost the moral and the political authority to govern.
Once again Filipino politics is extremely polarized. "Churches, officials in government, men in uniform, the business community, teachers, students and even families are divided," said a former member of the Arroyo Cabinet who recently resigned. With more or less all major political forces having opted for one or the other camp, voices of compromise are scarce. This, too, makes an amicable solution difficult.
Much public debate now focuses on the question why the present crisis is different from that of 1986 and 2001, two defining dates in Philippine history, when massive demonstrations led to the downfall of two presidents who were considered unfit to run the nation by major sectors of society. On both occasions the Philippines' Roman Catholic hierarchy and eventually the armed forces joined the "people power" movement, tipping the balance in favor of the demonstrators.