Philippine sedition charges

  The man charged with sedition, Samuel Ong, is a retired intelligence official. He has been charged because he called for the overthrow of the president, Gloria Arroyo.

Mr Ong, who is in hiding, has said he has master tapes of the president's telephone conversations that prove she cheated in last year's elections. He says intelligence agents gave him the tapes in which President Arroyo seems to be pressing an election official for a bigger victory.

The government says the recordings have been altered and are part of a plot by the opposition to destabilise the government. President Arroyo herself has made no comment on the wire-tapping controversy, despite mounting pressure to break her silence.

Her ratings have slumped to a record low, amid accusations that members of her family have taken pay-offs from illegal gambling syndicates. They deny any wrongdoing and nothing has been proved.

Filipinos are also angry about rising prices and persistent corruption. In the latest protest, about a thousand people rallied outside Congress on Wednesday, calling on President Arroyo to resign. Analysts say mass protests of the kind that toppled Joseph Estrada as president in 2001 are unlikely. But the scandals have unnerved investors and raised concerns that President Arroyo's attention will be diverted from much-needed but unpopular economic reforms.

Sarah Toms, BBC News, Manila

Vocabulary:

sedition: actions that can encourage people to disobey a government

altered: changed

to destabilise: to make somebody or something (here: a government) become less successful or powerful, or less able to control events

wire-tapping: the action of secretly listening to other people's telephone conversations (by connecting something to the wires of the phone)

mounting pressure: gradually increasing attempts to persuade somebody by using arguments or threats

to break her silence: to start speaking about something

have slumped to a record low: have suddenly gone down to the lowest level so far

pay-offs: money given to someone for something

persistent corruption: dishonest or illegal behaviour that continues to exist

toppled: took power away from a leader or government, especially by force; overthrew

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