The Long Goodbye

Revolution and martyrdom are powerful concepts in the Philippines. Few people recognize this as well as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. After all, she was elevated to the top job in 2001 through a popular uprising that ousted President Joseph Estrada. Last week, Arroyo attempted to switch from revolutionary hero to political martyr by announcing she wouldn't run for the presidency in the scheduled May 2004 elections. "If I don't make a sacrifice," she said during an event marking the anniversary of the death of martyred revolutionary hero José Rizal, "what will happen to our country?"

According to Arroyo,...