Word: arroyos
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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With 23 journalists killed since 2003, the Philippines has become?second only to Iraq?the world's riskiest place to report the news. Now there's another risk: Jose Miguel (Mike) Arroyo, husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, appears to be waging a legal campaign against his critics. Arroyo has sued 42 journalists and media executives over slights ranging from accusations of graft and fraud to one columnist's irreverent references to his weight...
...Christopher Warren, president of the International Federation of Journalists, accused Arroyo last week of trying to stifle free speech "by suing journalists into submission." To some extent, it may be working. "You have to think twice before writing about him," says Marites Da?guilan Vitug, editor of Newsbreak magazine, which is fighting $437,000 in damage claims. Arroyo says he is merely exercising his rights. Some journalists are striking a defiant note. Conrado de Quiros, a frequent critic of the First Gentleman, complained in a newspaper column that while several of his friends had been sued, he has not. "I feel...
...cannot stand idly by while the rule of law, the moral order and the integrity of our institutions ... are destroyed by this bogus President." DANILO LIM, Philippine Brigadier-General, in a Feb. 24 videotaped address in which he withdrew his support for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Lim and several others may face court-martial after the tape implicated them in an alleged plot against the President...
...charges against Arroyo are similar to those made during last year's tumultuous impeachment drive: allegations that Arroyo cheated in the May 2004 presidential election, used money from illegal gambling in her campaign, suppressed political dissent and condoned the killings of journalists and leftist leaders. Arroyo has denied the charges and her allies in Congress defeated the previous impeachment effort, but the President remains badly bruised. A March poll found that just 29% of respondents were satisfied with her performance. The economy, though showing modest gains in recent months, is still shaky and too dependent on the $10 billion...
...despite her problems, Arroyo's future may be slightly more stable. An expansion of the value-added tax she pushed through last year is producing higher-than-expected revenues to help refill the country's depleted treasury. Her congressional supporters say they have the numbers to defeat the impeachment bids. And while the opposition has a surplus of complaints, they lack a unifying candidate to oppose her. It's a weakness that isn't lost on the average Filipino. "Is there an alternative?" sighs Dencio Ugok, a taxi driver in Manila. It's hardly a rousing vote of confidence...