Can She Hold On?

The Philippine President delivers a State of the Nation speech every summer. Last week Gloria Macapagal Arroyo jumped the gun on the speech scheduled for July 25 because, as she told her countrymen in a hurried radio address, the nation's state was so parlous it needed fixes that couldn't wait. "Let's confront the biggest, most painful political truth ... our political system has degenerated," the President said. Arroyo ordered her Cabinet to step down and announced a crusade to reform the government, reducing red tape and cleaning up the election process. Arroyo also said she couldn't resign in the wake of...