No Answer to Arroyo's Prayers

For Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, it should have been a good day. On June 26, the devoutly religious Philippine President met with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, giving him a copy of a newly signed law banning the death penalty in the Philippines and earning from him a heartwarming "Well done." That sort of endorsement is political platinum in the Philippines, where more than 80% of the population is Catholic. But Arroyo's opponents back home weren't impressed. That same day they filed an impeachment complaint against her, and by week's end had submitted three more. So much for the sublime afterglow...