By Zach Cruz

Throughout the history of our country, it’s not often that you see or witness democracy triumph over injustice—especially injustice that affects the whole country. A significant and remarkable example of this would be the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, a revolution not only months, nor years, but decades in the making. Akin to a boiling pot, the Filipinos’ passions and thirsts for justice were brought to a roaring boil—and a resounding eruption—as the flames of tyranny, abuse, and hardship that strangled our countrymen during Ferdinand Marcos’ administration ignited the spirits of the Filipinos. The toppling of a dictator is no easy feat—only the perseverance of Filipinos proved it to be possible.

With this, we Filipinos should recognize the amount of power we have, especially if it is in large numbers. More importantly, it is imperative that we recognize the roots from where this all began—when we were finally awakened to see the need to fight for our rights and for our fellow countrymen. To do this, we must make our way to the very core of what the people fought for in the heat of the EDSA Revolution.

Calm and Still

Ferdinand E. Marcos was one of the popular candidates for presidency during the 1965 presidential elections, even rivaling incumbent president Diosdado Macapagal, who was his party-mate prior to the elections (Marcos decided to switch parties after Macapagal went against his promise of stepping down as president after one term). His political fame came from his flashy campaign that branded him as a “World War II hero,” with distinguished awards and medals from other countries. This seemed to have secured the favor of the Filipino people then, as he won and was inaugurated on December 30, 1965.

Swearing oath into office during a time of remarkable economic boom for the country, numerous infrastructure projects were launched by Marcos, particularly ones on transportation, agriculture, and roads which further steered the country’s economic growth. If the masses were compared to water placed inside a pot, at this stage it is still calm and still.  From 1960 to 1970, Marcos continued his spending on infrastructure, but the year 1969 was when things began to get tense—the fire had just been ignited.

It was another election year, and Marcos wanted to be re-elected. To create an atmosphere of good impression on the Filipino people, Marcos further ramped up debt-spending on infrastructure for more projects—a campaign strategy to deceive the masses to think that the country is prospering under his rule. Thus, he was able to clinch another term as president in what many note was one of the “dirtiest” and “most corrupt” elections to date. Constitutionally speaking, that should have been his last.

Despite Marcos’ historical re-election as president, his enormous debt-spending immediately came biting back in the form of his administration’s first economic crisis: the 1969-1970 balance of payments crisis. Aside from just being an economic crisis, it became one of the first factors to trigger social unrest in the country. Case in point: the First Quarter Storm that followed soon after—the long beginning of the end, and when the water in the pot of the masses started to simmer.

Rising and Bubbling

The historical First Quarter Storm ensued as a result of the social unrest brought about by the balance of payments crisis caused by the administration’s debt-spending. The crisis served as the first spark—the first blaze that heated up the spirits of the pot of the masses. During this time, the first three months of 1970 were scattered with protests, demonstrations, rallies, and marches. Social tension was heightened, and these events marked the point when people began to realize that the administration had to go. Students, politicians, institutions, labor groups, and many other entities sought for systemic and political reforms in the country in several protests riddled with outrage and violence.

The First Quarter Storm was regarded by Marcos as an “attack on democracy” by communists—dismissing or deliberately ignoring the fact that it was his own people who were already calling him out. He soon used this as reasoning for declaring Martial Law that caused more bloodshed and corruption than ever. The question of whether or not he intended for this to happen to help him achieve his goal to stay in power remains a mystery.  After all, Marcos is a cunning and smart man; he knew how to pull strings.

Such occurred in 1971 during the establishment of the Constitutional Convention, or Con-Con for short. Essentially, Marcos’ political opposition thought of revising the 1935 Constitution in order to ban Marcos from running for presidency once more—a smart move eventually outsmarted by Marcos. Marcos saw the Con-Con as an opportunity; if he got to change the provisions of the 1935 Constitution that bars him from running for a third term, he may be able to rule the country for another term. With that, he gladly accepted the Con-Con and even supported it to the surprise of the opposition. Slowly but surely, Marcos’ agenda to hog power for himself—his inherent greed to rule—began to emerge.

Alongside the Con-Con, there were other events that unfolded that helped Marcos fulfill his agenda of indefinitely ruling the Philippines. These events would be exposed by Ninoy Aquino later on as part of Marcos’ Oplan Sagittarius, which revealed that as soon as Marcos was re-elected as president in 1969, he already had his sights set on extending his term beyond constitutional limits. To achieve this, he used violent conflicts and protests as excuses for the proclamation of Martial Law: the 1971 Plaza Miranda Bombing, where two grenades killed nine and injured many during a liberal political party, and the 1972 Manila bombings which consisted of twenty explosions around the greater Manila area. Marcos attributed these to communist insurgency in the country. 

As of now, there is still no confirmed mastermind behind the 1971 Plaza Miranda Bombing; the Communist Party of the Philippines also denied accusations that they were behind the 1972 bombings (but after quite some time, a mastermind behind the 1972 Manila bombings had emerged: Marcos’ military.) His list of reasons to proclaim Martial Law grew longer and longer as conflicts, protests, rallies, and demonstrations persisted. Many strings were present—some pulled by his own hand.

Marcos’ last straw before proclaiming Martial Law happened the night of September 22, 1972 when Secretary of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile was ambushed in Wack Wack. This was quickly met with another contrasting statement which said that everyone had exited the vehicle before it was shot at—suggesting that the ambush was staged (which was validated by Enrile who admitted to it being staged in 1986). Nevertheless, this was Marcos’ last straw to justify Martial Law. 

Finally, on September 23, 1972, Marcos announced that he had placed the whole country under Martial Law.

The Raging Boil

A hundred persons targeted for arrest by the administration were already detained at Camp Crame the day of the announcement. This includes well-known personalities who belonged to the opposition: Ninoy Aquino, Jose Diokno, Francisco Rodrigo, and Ramon Mitra Jr. The entire country was forced into silence as Marcos assumed the right to all media, public utilities, aircraft and watercraft, and powers of government. The media was silenced, 8,000 individuals (journalists, students, labor leaders, and others) were arrested within that single day, and military troops began to implement Marcos’ despotic orders. 

His plan has been half-fulfilled: he has all the power, now, he needs all the time. What better way to do it than to revisit the Constitutional Convention?

On November 30, 1972, the Constitutional Convention passed the first draft of the revised constitution to Marcos. However, multiple strings have already been pulled in favor of the president even before the draft was passed. Many individuals initially part of the convention but became part of the opposition were immediately arrested after Martial Law was declared, leaving the convention with Marcos’ allies, and thus leaving the constitution vulnerable to one-sided manipulation. Naturally, Marcos immediately approved the draft—the draft that would also make him both Prime Minister and President for an indefinite period of  time. Finally, on January 17, after a 90% vote for “yes” by citizen assemblies (local governments were given quotas for “yes votes”), Marcos declared that the new constitution had been ratified. This had been challenged by the Supreme Court later on yet no judicial hindrance was found. As such, they had also voted in favor of the 1973 Constitution. Marcos’ agenda has finally come into fruition.

In addition to the extension of Marcos’ term as well as the power and authority he had over the country, another unforgettable aspect of Martial Law was the multiple cases of human rights violations it concurred. Starting from the fact that writ of habeas corpus was suspended, many individuals were prone to getting arrested—especially those who were part of the opposition. Ninoy Aquino and Pepe Magsaysay themselves were brought into solitary confinement and forced to change into a new set of clothes and give up all of their belongings in Nueva Ecija for 30 days. Nearly a hundred thousand were arrested and detained; a thousand more would be tortured, killed, or even disappear. Ten million people ended up getting displaced due to military activity. The country stood silent. Speak one word against the administration and you suffer tenfold.

Economically speaking, gross domestic product (GDP) rose sharply in the country during the first years of Martial Law, but only because of an increased global demand for raw materials that the country is rich in. There were other moments when the economy seemed to be prospering. Once again people had the illusion that things were going good just because of more infrastructure projects—some even coined the Martial Law era as the country’s “golden age,” ignoring the fact that thousands died and hundreds of thousands more were stripped of their rights. 

Instead of a golden age, the country was clouded with corruption, abuse, and violence. In 1981, Marcos stripped the country of Martial Law, but it proved insubstantial as he still had all the power and many things remained the same. All this came crashing down on August 21, 1983 when Ninoy Aquino, who was sent into self-exile in 1980 due to an illness, returned to the Philippines only to get shot and killed as soon as he exited his plane.

Eruption

Social unrest and dissatisfaction grew among the Filipinos. Many were holding the administration accountable, and the country wanted answers. This societal tension would force Marcos in 1986 to hold the controversial Snap Elections in February 1986. Marcos was to run against Corazon Aquino, Ninoy Aquino’s widow who grew to represent the opposition in her husband’s absence. By then, it was only a matter of days before Marcos’ dictatorship came to a halt.

There were two main bodies who counted and watched the votes closely: the Commission of Elections (COMELEC) and the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL). Despite the fact that the two institutions were closely watching election results, they had differing conclusions: COMELEC announced Marcos as the winner, while NAMFREL announced Cory Aquino, suggesting to the people that there was foul play in the elections. This was further made evident when COMELEC computer technicians initiated a walkout. The mismatching votes, human rights abuses, deception, hardship, and abuse faced by the country finally reached its boiling point—an eruption was in order.

At first, protests were scattered across the country—everyone was frustrated at the fraudulent results of the Snap Elections, and everyone wanted an explanation. Protesters significantly grew by the numbers, and by then hundreds of thousands of people took to EDSA to show support for Aquino and to oust the dictator Marcos. This would soon be chronicled as the EDSA People Power Revolution—a show of democracy, unity, power, and peace.

The revolution did not only involve civilians of the country. Even those in the realm of politics, media, military, and religion joined in the cries of the masses. It spanned four days from February 22 to February 25. Unlike previous protests mentioned which involved some degree of violence, the People Power Revolution managed to topple a dictator without a single stain of blood, perhaps fueled by the genuine wishes of the masses for liberty, democracy, and freedom to prosper. Tanks sent to defend the area did not shoot. Nuns gave flowers to armed soldiers. Choppers that were sent joined the civilians instead. Everyone was flipping sides and turning over—everyone except Marcos himself. In fact, he even announced the situation as a national emergency and ordered a curfew to which virtually nobody followed. Following this, on the last day of the revolution on February 25, both Cory Aquiono and Marcos went on live television to broadcast their inaugurations. Aquino did hers at Club Filipino while Marcos did his at Malacañang—yet his broadcast was suddenly cut as rebels sieged multiple transmitter stations.

The revolution’s momentum soared to new heights, and internal and external pressure mounted on top of one another. Marcos was essentially backed into a corner, left with no choice but to finally peacefully leave. Once evening hit, the revolution concluded in a peaceful and gracious victory as once and for all, Marcos had finally fled the country.

Cooling Down

As news of Marcos’ departure spread, Filipinos charged at Malacañang palace as an expression of euphoria and joy as finally, after two decades of silence, hardship, and abuse… the Philippines is once again free—this time not from colonizers from other lands, but from a dictator who only sought power for himself.

This act of democracy would forever be etched in history books not only in the Philippines but also even in those around the world as a testament to the power of the people, even if all hope seemed to be lost. Even if Marcos had closed the boiling pot, and even if he had all the power… the Filipinos’ passions did not die out. Rather, it only strengthened the blaze for justice that would finally erupt into one of the greatest displays of democracy in the history of the world.

May this event—and everything that came before it—serve as reminders for us to never again let our country suffer under the hands of someone who only seeks power and glory all for themselves. This historical milestone represents the power we have as Filipinos; it’s proof that if we all unite and ignite our passions for righteousness, we have the capability to achieve anything we fight for. This is a reminder that we can fight for ourselves, our country, and our freedom.