Philippines Transition Raises Hopes

S I N G A P O R E, Jan. 21 -- The largely peaceful transition in the Philippines raised hopes of a fresh start inthe country today and won praise elsewhere in Asia which isgrappling with a host of simmering socio-economic crises.

But newspapers in Taiwan, which had its own brush with aconstitutional crisis when opposition parties banded togetherto threaten the president with dismissal, warned againsttoppling leaders without holding elections.

On the diplomatic front, China, the United States, Malaysiaand New Zealand said they looked forward to working with GloriaMacapagal-Arroyo, who replaced disgraced President JosephEstrada on Saturday.

Macapagal-Arroyo, formerly vice-president, took over after theSupreme Court fired Estrada saying he was no longer fit togovern, ending the country's worst political crisis since a1986 "people power" revolution toppled dictator FerdinandMarcos.

"People power appears to win victory after victory, butbeing forced to take to the streets time after time is a tragicfate," Taiwan's United Daily News said.

Sentiment Across Asia Mostly Favorable

"The opposition which mobilized the people must be awarethat they are setting the worst precedent for the Philippines,"Taiwan's mass-circulation China Times cautioned.

But elsewhere, the response was more favorable.

Thailand's Nation daily newspaper hailed what it called"another remarkable development of democracy" in SoutheastAsia, praising the decisiveness of the guardians of the systemin upholding the national interest.

Newspapers in Indonesia, whose own President AbdurrahmanWahid is being probed by parliament over financial scandals,gave blanket coverage to Estrada's downfall.

Peaceful Nature of Turnover Praised

In Japan, newspapers praised the peaceful nature of thetransition. The Mainichi Shimbun hailed "an example ofdemocracy on display in a bloodless political change."

The crisis came to a head after the country's military andsecurity chiefs rallied to the opposition on Friday andTaiwan's newspapers were not alone in raising a note ofconcern.