Agreed. I was going to say the same thing. This is the old Democracy/dictatorship/military rule business. I get the feeling that Macapagal is not the greatest leader in the world, and some of the power grabbers are eager to stage a coup.
Exactly. The Muslims there cause trouble on a regular basis but they *cannot* take over the country. I had lunch with a couple of friends from the Phillipines recently and they pointed out that Arroyo has been in political trouble for some time.