Will Filipinos vote for their brainy but aloof President—or anoint a popular movie star who offers nothing less than salvation?

Filipinos like their elections big. Next week, they'll be voting not just for President and Vice President but for nearly all the elected positions in the land, down to vice mayors and city councilors—17,000 in all. Some 100,000 candidates are running, making and breaking alliances, plastering the countryside with campaign posters and guarding against the mortal violence that always characterizes Philippine elections.

The Philippines has gone through a lot of would-be savior-Presidents: Marcos in his heyday, Aquino in hers, Arroyo after EDSA II. Next week's election shows the Filipinos are still waiting for the real thing.

Is She The One? Anthony Spaeth Manila