Manila, Philippines
Philippine presidential challenger Fernando Poe, a former movie star, has accused the government of stealing this week’s election. Preliminary poll results pointed to a solid re-election victory for Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. But Poe said soldiers had harassed and intimidated voters at polling places, and even opened ballot boxes and burned those that weren’t marked for Arroyo. Independent foreign observers won’t rule on the fairness of the election for at least a week. Poe, known as “the Filipino Arnold Schwarzenegger,” is supported mainly by the poor, while Arroyo, an American-trained economist, is popular with the educated elite.
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