The Philippines averted a constitutional crisis yesterday after lawmakers backed a Supreme Court ruling that the impeachment of the country's top judge was unlawful.
But supporters of the impeachment were unlikely to heed calls for reconciliation and analysts said any relief from political uncertainty ahead of elections next May may be brief as politicians in the fractious democracy jockey for position.
In a marathon session of the House of Representatives, law-makers voted by 115 to 77 to abide by the court's decision, overcoming opposition from those who wanted to ignore the court and pass the impeachment articles on for a Senate trial.
"This is a historic win for the Filipino people," Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said in a statement, after an eight-hour vote that stretched through to dawn yesterday.
"I am confident that the three branches of government can now buckle down to their respective duties unhampered by controversy and uncertainty."
The impeachment of Chief Justice Hilario Davide prompted street protests and divided the country ahead of the elections.
Supporters of ousted president Joseph Estrada backed impeachment, while the Catholic Church and former president Corazon Aquino led rallies against it.
The peso has slumped to near record lows and reforms vital to stop a sharp decline in foreign investment and curb a large budget deficit languish in Congress.
The currency rebounded yesterday to 55.16 pesos to the US dollar from lows around 55.49 pesos on Monday, helped by the apparent end of the crisis, dealers said. Spreads on Philippine sovereign dollar bonds tightened, after blowing out by as much as 15 basis points on Monday.
But domestic debt market yields continued a recent rise and stocks fell to their lowest level in eight days, partly on worries about higher interest rates.
"The worries came up as a combination of several factors," said a local bank dealer. "It's not only the impeachment."
"We are looking at early 2004 with the election campaign, and the budget deficit is still a concern."
The Philippines has been beset by scandals and crises over the past few months, from an aborted coup by disgruntled soldiers in July to allegations of corruption against Arroyo's husband to the impeachment of Davide.
Analysts lay much of the blame on maneuvering ahead of elections that remain very open given Arroyo's relatively poor popularity ratings.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not