Arroyo set to keep power in Philippine vote

Filipinos vote Monday in a midterm election expected to dash opposition hopes of impeaching President Gloria Arroyo.

from the May 14, 2007 edition

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For foreign businesses in the Philippines, the prospect of continuity should be welcome. Having lagged behind its neighbors in recent years, the Philippines is undergoing a growth spurt that Arroyo's backers attribute to her economic stewardship. Critics say the growth has failed to trickle down to millions of Filipinos stuck in abject poverty.

Last month, Texas Instruments agreed to build a $1 billion semiconductor plant at a former US airbase near Manila. Business outsourcing is thriving: Sector revenues are forecast to reach $5 billion in 2007, employing over 100,000 Filipinos, according to an industry association. Among those investing in the Philippines are Indian industry executives who face rising costs at home, says Ms. Prelypchan.

Militant threats

Police warned Sunday that communist guerrillas planned to attack civilian targets to undermine the election. On the troubled island of Mindanao, where US-trained Philippine troops are pursuing Islamic separatists, at least five people died after a market bombing last week that authorities blamed on Muslim extremists. Analysts say that this and other incidents may be election-linked, and fit a pattern of political violence in the Philippines.

After the election, stalled talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are set to resume. While the fragile peace process hasn't featured in national campaigning, it looms large in the minds of voters in Mindanao, says Astrid Tuminez, a senior researcher at the US Institute for Peace.

Arroyo has managed to bring the MILF, which has fought since 1978 for a Muslim homeland, to the negotiating table. But there's plenty of heavy lifting needed to make any peace proposal stick in a Congress that's suspicious of autonomy deals, says Ms. Tuminez.

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