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 MANILA, Philippines (AP) - An estimated 5,000 protesters demanded Saturday that Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo step down, marking the biggest anti-government rally since allegations surfaced that she fixed last year's election and her family received gambling kickbacks.
The government has denied the allegations, saying they were part of a plot to unseat Arroyo. Police nationwide and soldiers in the capital, Manila, were on full alert against a power grab in a country with a history of coup attempts.
Arroyo's popularity — already at the lowest level since that for late dictator Ferdinand Marcos — has taken more hits since the release of an alleged wiretapped conversation between Arroyo and an election official to fix the 2004 vote, and claims of payoffs to Arroyo's son and brother-in-law from illegal gambling operators.
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