Both Southeast Asian archipelagic nations saw their democratically elected presidents prematurely replaced by daughters of former rulers.
The first one to go was the former movie star.
Joseph Estrada was born in a Manila slum but rose to moviestardom in the 1970s, earning the nickname "Erap" -- "buddy" spelled backward in Tagalog. He won the presidential elections in 1998 by a huge margin, but two years later found himself impeached for alleged corruption.
In January, Estrada attempted to subvert the impeachment proceedings, prompting defections by Cabinet members and military generals as well as sparking the second "people power" uprising. As "Erap" refused to resign, the Supreme Court declared the presidency vacant, paving the way for Estrada's deputy, Gloria Arroyo, to take over.
The daughter of former president Diosdado Macapagal now battles an economic slump and Muslim guerrillas while the jailed Estrada fights corruption charges in court.
The next one off the stage was the near-blind cleric.
Abdurrahman Wahid became Indonesia's first democratically elected president in 1999 although it was the party led by Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of founding president Sukarno, that won the most votes in a parliamentary election. The Muslim cleric's tenure should have been a time to consolidate democratic reforms and economic restructuring, but it was more often marked by erratic rule. He had alienated parliament early on by calling it a "kindergarten."
As parliament moved to impeach Wahid for corruption and incompetence, he tried to declare a state of emergency and even called for a jihad. Chaos and bloodshed were averted mainly thanks to the army siding with parliament, which on July 23 swore in Megawati as the first female president of the world's largest Muslim nation.
Like Arroyo, Megawati faces economic stagnation, separatism and the pressure of showing there's more to her than her family name.
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