Sinking Deeper

On

the tape, the gravelly voice of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is unmistakable—and she appears to be discussing the fixing of returns in last May's presidential election, which Arroyo won by about 1 million votes. The tape was recorded shortly after the poll—but it is an edited fraud, according to the President's office, which played it for the media last week along with a recording of what it said was the original, undoctored conversation. The edited tape, say Arroyo and her aides, is part of a broader plan by her rivals to discredit her, spark street protests and provide support to a military coup d'état. "I am saddened that while I am doing my job," Arroyo told a local radio station, "there are people who want to bring me down or undermine my capability to govern the country." General Efren Abu, Arroyo's armed forces Chief of Staff, put the military on red alert after announcing that retired officers were plotting against the President.

The Palace says that allegations that three of Arroyo's relatives, including her husband Miguel, received money from an illegal gambling racket are just another part of the plot. Last Thursday, Sandra Cam, a 45-year-old former provincial official, told a Senate investigating panel that she delivered tens of thousands of dollars in cash to the President's son, Juan Miguel, and her husband's brother, Ignacio Arroyo. (Both men, along with Arroyo's husband, have denied getting payoffs from the so-called jueteng numbers rackets.) Arroyo responded swiftly, ordering an investigation by the Justice Department.

Arroyo's woes continued to snowball through the week. On Friday, Samuel Ong, a former deputy director of the National Bureau of Investigation, held a press conference to say he had a copy of the original post-election audio tape which he received from a military intelligence agent. Ong claimed the tape was genuine and incriminating of Arroyo, and after the press conference he hurried to a Catholic seminary for sanctuary. A jittery Jose de Venecia, Speaker of the House of Representatives, told lawmakers they must resist any attempt to bring Arroyo down. "The next few days will be difficult moments for our country and people," he said. "Let's not take this idly."

Arroyo, meanwhile, has embarked on a charm blitz to bolster support. Last week, she invited her allies in the Senate to dine at the palace, and threw a dinner for alumni of the classes of 1973-1978 of the Philippine Military Academy, which include some of the armed forces' most senior officers. Attendance was poor: according to someone who attended the dinner, Arroyo was disappointed. "Are they waiting," she asked, "for the next regime?"