President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines should have been basking this week in the international limelight as hostess at a summit of East Asia's leaders. Instead, Mrs Arroyo has been left looking shabby and incompetent—partly because of her abrupt postponement of the summit, on the dubious grounds of bad weather, and partly because of a scandalous attempt by her supporters in Congress's lower house to hobble the constitution and abolish the independent-minded Senate. Ostensibly, the summit was cancelled because of Typhoon Utor, which hit the Philippines this week, causing several deaths. But the country's weather bureau had told the government the typhoon would skirt Cebu City, the summit venue.
展开▼
