Quotes of the Day

After more than a month of vote recounts, lawsuits and allegations of skulduggery, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo finally secured a second term as President at 3 a.m. last Thursday. With her victory over challenger Fernando Poe Jr. certified by a bitterly divided Congress, Arroyo said: "To my detractors, I appeal for unity; to my supporters, I appeal for an open mind ... This is a time for forgiveness and letting go of the past."

That remains to be seen. While Arroyo's inauguration is scheduled for June 30, Poe can still challenge the result, and street protests claiming the President fixed the elections continue to simmer. The lingering acrimony will surely hinder Arroyo as she pursues her top priority: shoring up the country's deteriorating finances. The government is projecting a budget deficit of $3.6 billion, while foreign debt has climbed to $56.7 billion—so high that the Philippines must continue borrowing just to pay off the interest, a situation that could choke the economy's recent growth. The trouble is, the President has virtually no mandate to push through the painful fiscal measures needed to cut the mounting deficit. Unpopular plans to tax SMS messages and raise duties on tobacco and alcohol have already been scrapped. And Arroyo is now expected to deliver on a raft of expensive campaign promises that, politically, she can't afford to drop. Add an unresolved terrorism threat and the possibility of another "People Power" revolt, and you might wonder why anyone would fight for the presidency. "I feel sorrier for the winner than for the loser," says Asiri Abubakar of the University of the Philippines.

• Bryan Walsh
• At long last, the Philippines have an election result. The next step: getting the economy in order