State of Emergency in the Philippines

As I sit on the beach in Goa relaxing I am reading rather disturbing reports from a country I was in only a few weeks back. It seems that there has been an attempted coup against the President Gloria Arroyo and she has now declared a State of Emergency. Essentially this allows the government to arrest and detain people more easily and by-pass many of the laws which are in place to protect our civil liberties. What is troubling is that the coup seems to have been planned by a top general with connections throughout the country.

Given the countries turbulent and often violent history its understandable that she has used this power. However, given that Marcos used this to remain in power for years I hope she will only use it for a limited time. Otherwise, we could see the Philippines go back another decade at a time when the country needs to be moving forward.

What is especially distressing for me is that I was only there a few weeks back and felt the country had 'turned the corner'. Everyone I spoke to was optimistic about the future and felt the Philippines was making great strides forward. Coupled together with problems in Sri Lanka and ongoing troubles in Nepal I am beginning to feel like my tour of the world is turning into a 'tour of the worlds hotspots'.

I hope President Gloria Arroyo will restore order and the right of law as soon as possible.

Back to the beach.