Emergency Rules

When ordinary Filipinos took to the streets in 1986 to overthrow dictator Ferdinand Marcos, they transformed their nation into perhaps the freest in Asia. But last weekend, on the 20th anniversary of the People Power revolution, Filipinos found themselves once again living under the chill of emergency rule. Capping a tense week of coup rumors, Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo proclaimed a state of national emergency on Friday morning, announcing in a taped message on television that she had crushed an attempt by prominent military officers to overthrow her government. Arroyo appealed for calm, even as security forces were put on...