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THE PRESIDENT
The Unmaking of the President
by Sheila S. Coronel
Mrs. Arroyo is reaping the consequences of the damage she has wrought on key institutions.

The Tangled Tale of the Tapes
There appears to be more comedy than cunning in the release of the "Garci" tapes.

Bye, Bye Love
Gloria and Mike complement, but also compete with, each other.

THE OPPOSITION
Despite Susan, The Opposition is not Quite Smelling Like Roses
by Luz Rimban
Mrs. Poe is the best thing that has ever happened to a splintered and discredited opposition.

Pondering Plans B to G
A whole range of options is being offered as a way out of the current mess.

THE ELECTION
Who Really Won in 2004?
by Yvonne T. Chua
The experts say the fight was so close it was a statistical dead heat.

WHAT WENT WRONG IN THE COMELEC?
The Comelec's Fall from Grace
by Alecks P. Pabico
The questionable credentials and integrity of commissioners have wrecked the election body.

Sins of the Commission
Scandals have hounded the Comelec for years.

VIRGILIO GARCILLANO
Master Operator
by Sheila S. Coronel
The man whose voice is heard on The Tapes is an expert in election fraud.

MINDANAO
Working 'Miracles' in Mindanao
by Yvonne T. Chua
The "Garci" recording gives clues on how the cheating was done in the South.

Statistically Improbable
The result of the elections in some Mindanao towns challenges credulity.

PARTY LIST
Messing with the Party List
by Luz Rimban
Favored party-list groups got more than a little help from the Comelec fraud squad.

THE FIRST FAMILY
Shame and Scandal in the Family
The Arroyos have weathered allegations that range from keeping secret bank accounts to getting money from illegal gambling.

TECHNOLOGY
Blogging Gloria
by Alecks P. Pabico
Ringtones, bootlegged CDs, and blogs are the new weapons of resistance.

POINTS OF VIEW
Writings on the (Democracy) Wall
Filipinos have never been shy about speaking out, especially in turbulent times.

HELLO, GARCI?
The Non(Musical): A Program Guide
There really is only one Garci recording, but several versions of it have been released. A full transcript and a list of the cast of characters in The Tapes is in this issue.

	Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Susan Roces battle for the hearts and minds of Filipinos.

TODAY the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stands on the edge of the abyss. Will she fall or can she pull back from the brink?

This crisis is not only the most serious in her four-year presidency, it challenges the viability of Philippine democracy as well.

That democracy has been resilient. Since 1946, our elections have been marred by violence and fraud. And yet, the mystique of elections — as a democratic exercise where all are equal and all have a voice in choosing who will rule over us — remains untarnished. No matter how flawed and how dirty elections are, Filipinos, for the most part, believe and participate in them wholeheartedly.

So what is the fuss all about? All sides mess around with the count. And, in 2004, the opposition probably did, too. this is what Mrs. Arroyo’s supporters argue: if both sides cheated, then there was what we might call a "balance of fraud." In the end, the results still reflected "the will of the people."

On June 7, before he dropped out of sight, elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano was interviewed by reporters. I don’t think the opposition will touch me, he said. "I helped many of them, I have many friends among them."

This belief — that since everyone is tainted with guilt, and therefore, everyone is safe from retribution — has held for the longest time. Now, all that may change. The public outrage over the revelations in the "Hello, Garci?" tapes shows that Filipinos can tolerate only so much.

It does not help that Mrs. Arroyo and her family have been implicated in scandal after scandal since she assumed the presidency in 2001. Gloriagate is only the latest in a long line of accusations that have tarnished the Office of the President. Mrs. Arroyo faces this crisis with a tarnished slate, not a clean one. The opposition — itself tarnished with the sins of its not-so-glorious past — is exploiting the situation so it can oust her. But Mrs. Arroyo is as much to blame for her woes. She is reeling from the damage she has wrought on key institutions, especially the Commission on Elections and also the military and the police, both of which were apparently used to ensure her victory in 2004.

Now she is being called to account.

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