World / IN BRIEF: THE PHILIPPINES : 100,000 Oppose Plan to Alter Constitution

More than 100,000 protesters marched to oppose President Joseph Estrada’s plan to rewrite the Philippine constitution. Warning against the return of dictatorship, church and leftist groups demonstrated in Manila and major provincial cities. The size of the demonstrations matched that of a similar protest organized by the Roman Catholic Church last month, suggesting that opposition to plans to amend the constitution remained formidable. Protests by public transportation drivers crippled business and government operations, police said. Protesters fear that Estrada is pushing to change the constitution to remove a 6-year term limit for the presidency.