EDSA Revolution of 1986

PEOPLE POWER IN THE PHILIPPINES

In the mid-1980's a popular movement sprang up to oust the corrupt Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. As the resistance gained momentum, two key military officers defected from the government and sequestered themselves inside a Manila military base. What followed was an amazing example of nonviolent struggle as hundreds of thousands of ordinary Filipinos took to the streets to protect the rebel officers from troops still loyal to Marcos. "What the story of the Philippine revolution demonstrates is the power people can have when they withdraw consent."

FERDINAND MARCOS
When Ferdinand Marcos was twenty years old he was arrested for conspiracy in the murder of one of his father's political rivals. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to prison. The case was appealed before the Philippine Supreme Court. Marcos, a young lawyer with no trial experience, represented himself and won the appeal. He was set free. At one time Marcos was one of the world's most powerful dictators. First elected president of the Philippines in 1965, he pulled the strings of power like a master puppeteer. He consolidated power by manipulating public opinion, stealing elections, perfecting the arts of political patronage and bribery. Arrests and assassinations kept the public living in fear. Although the Philippine constitution limited the presidency to two four-year terms, Marcos ruled for twenty years. He achieved this by suspending the constitution (after declaring martial law), and then writing another constitution more conducive to his ambitions. He ran the Philippines like it was his private country club, controlling the military, the parliament, the courts, the bureaucracy, the press and several business monopolies. He and his "cronies" got richer while the country got poorer.

ASSASSINATION
Then in 1983 Benigno Aquino decided to return to the Philippines after three years of self-imposed exile. As a popular politician, Aquino represented the primary threat to the Marcos presidenc y. For his "protection," a military escort greeted Aquino when he arrived at Manila International Airport. As he exited the plane, there were shots. When it was over Aquino's body lay

sprawled on the tarmac. The assassination of Benigno Aquino was the match that lit the fire that would eventually consume the Marcos regime.

THE FUNERAL
The Marcos government banned TV coverage of the Aquino funeral. As a result, thousands of people showed up, wanting to see for themselves what was going on. The funeral march turned into an eleven-hour impromptu demonstration against Marcos. By not allowing TV coverage, Marcos was using the old-fashioned tactics of heavy-handed repression. He didn't understand what the elites of most modern industrial nations have learnedthat there are much more subtle (and efficient) means of controlling a population. Had he allowed, even encouraged, extensive TV coverage and turned the whole affair into a spectacle, people may have stayed home and watched the tube instead of going out and getting involved.

REACTION
The public reacted angrily to the Aquino murder. Rallies and other forms of resistance sprang up in cities and towns all over the Philippines. During the next two and a half years all segments of the population, including the upper and middle classes, joined the struggle to get rid of Marcos. Finally, yielding to pressure from his people (and the U.S.), Marcos called for presidential elections to prove he still had widespread support. Benigno Aquino's widow Cory, a self-described housewife, ran against Marcos. The election was marked by widespread fraud, with Marcos' thugs beating up election workers and scrambling voter roles. The government declared Marcos the winner. After the election Cory Aquino spoke to a crowd of one million people at a rally in Manila. She proposed a seven-

part program of nonviolent resistance, including a one-day work stoppage and a boycott of Marcos- controlled banks, stores and newspapers. She urged people to "experiment with nonviolent forms of protest" and declared: "...if Goliath refuses to yield, we shall keep dipping into our arsenal of nonviolence and escalate our nonviolent struggle." The revolution had begun.

DEFECTION
On February 22, 1986, Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Deputy Chief of Staff Fidel Ramos defect from the Marcos government. Enrile and Ramos barricade themselves in the Defense Ministry headquarters in Manila, along with a small group of sympathetic troops. They say they are prepared to die rather than continue supporting the corrupt Marcos regime. Marcos is not worried about the rebel officers. "They are cornered," he says. They "can be easily wiped out with simple artillery and tank fire." He declares: "I intend to stay as President and if necessary I will defend this position with all the force at my disposal." Unfortunately for Marcos, force is not the same as power, and although he still has plenty of force at his disposal, the sources of his power are drying up.

RESISTANCE
Radio Veritas, an independent radio station run by the Catholic Church, calls for people to surround the Defense Ministry and block the movement of any troops that Marcos might send. Hundreds of thousands of people respond. They chop down trees and park buses in intersections to blockade streets leading to Camp Crame where the small contingent of rebels has consolidated their forces. For the next four days, entire families camp out on the streets of Manila, using their bodies to protect the rebel troops from attack. A carnival-like atmosphere prevails. Hawkers sell peanuts and souvenirs. People sing and dance and cheer. They talk and sleep and listen to Radio Veritas. Priests hold street masses and prayer vigils. There are spontaneous rallies and processions. Marcos has a plan: "We'll bide our time, but we'll disperse the civilians, protects them, take care of them, and then we'll hit Enrile and Ramos." He sends Marines, tanks and armored personnel carriers to attack Camp Crame.

Marcos' soldiers and weapons are met in the streets by tens of thousands of ordinary Filipinos who are surrounding Camp Crame to protect the rebel officers. As the tanks start forward into the crowd, people sit down in front of them. The tanks stop. People offer the soldiers candy and cigarettes, asking them to defect and join the rebellion. Young girls walk among the soldiers, passing out flowers. The blocked tanks start forward again. The people sit tight, holding their ground. The tanks stop again. A Marine commander threatens to start shooting. Priests and nuns kneel before the tanks, praying the Rosary. No shots are fired. Finally the tanks turn around and withdraw as the crowd cheers. Marcos, the power professional, knows the foundation of his authority is perception. Despite his frail health, he lashes out against the rebels with macho bluster: "If they think I am sick, I may even want to lead the troops to wipe out this Enrile and Ramos. I am just like an old war horse, smelling powder and getting stronger." Enrile responds: "He can't even lead himself to the bathroom." On February 24 Marcos imposes a dusk to dawn curfew. No one pays any attention. By now the Reagan White House, whose support is one of the keys to Marcos' power, is openly calling for him to resign. Troops begin to defect in increasing numbers. Seven helicopter gunships land at Camp Crame to join the rebels. A small group of rebel soldiers in Manila take over channel four, a government-run TV station, cutting off a Marcos speech in mid-sentence. Tens of thousands gather outside to defend the station while the opposition begins broadcasting news updates and appeals for assistance from Enrile, Ramos and Aquino.

DEFENDING CHANNEL FOUR

When several platoons of loyalist soldiers try to take back channel four, they are surrounded by civilians. A priest walks up and leads the crowd in the Lord's Prayer. People begin shaking the soldiers' hands and giving them McDonalds hamburgers, doughnuts and orange soda. The tension eases. After a while the commander agrees to withdraw his troops.

As the soldiers prepare to depart, a middle-aged woman in an Aquino T-shirt helps a machine gunner wind belts of ammunition around his chest. "There, now you look like Rambo," she tells him. But as the soldier bends down to pick up his gun, it accidentally discharges. Another soldier is hit in the face and killed. It is the only violent death on February 24, the next to last day of the revolution.

VICTORY
On the 25th both Aquino and Marcos hold separate inaugurations. The Marcos inauguration is a pathetic affair, attended by family members and a few paid guests. Behind the scenes Marcos is maneuvering to save face, placing phone calls to influential Filipinos and begging to be allowed to stay on as an "Honorary President," or at least to remain in the Philippines as a private citizen. He must be astonished to see his power, which seemed so absolute only a few weeks ago, evaporate so quickly and completely. At about nine o'clock that night, Marcos and his family sneak out the back door of Malacaang Palace and take a boat across t he Pasig River where helicopters are waiting. At Clark Air base they board a U.S. Air Force plane headed for Guam. Marcos, who ruled for twenty years as one of the world's most powerful dictators, is now just a sick old man fleeing his country like a frightened dog. When Marcos' departure is announced jubilant Filipinos celebrate in the streets and flood into Malacaang Palace. There is some fighting and retribution against citizens and troops who had been loyal to Marcos, but it is minimal. After violent revolutions there are always scores to settle, grudges to satisfy, revenge to extract, and the cycle of violence continues. But because the Filipino people created major political change largely without violence, national reconciliation was that much easier. In a country peppered by souls still heady and giddy about Fiesta Revolutions of past, the rallying cry in response to an impeachment bid against President Gloria Arroyo that catastrophically failed to pass Congress on 06 Sep 2005 was once again you guessed it FIESTA REVOLUTION! Led by no less than Madame Ex-President, former Time Woman of the Year, and Ms 1986 Revolution herself Ms Corazon Aquino, what may now be billed Edsa IV (or Commonwealth Avenue I, as the case may be),

promised to be another spectacle of sorts. This time there was no particular heir-to-thethrone around which the fete was organised. If it succeeded in its bid to amass enough warm bodies in the streets to make a statement, it would have marked a new low in the practice of a concept that Filipinos fancy themselves to have invented back in 1986. If it had failed, it will have further served to highlight the utter ridiculousness of how Filipinos conduct their affairs. And failed miserably it did. Bursts of little street protests sporadically erupted in Manilas streets in the days following the House dismisal of the impeachment bid, but none even remotely approached the kind of numbers these would-be anarchists crowed in the days leading to Tueday. Each were in fact smaller in number than the equally ridiculous street gathering in Makati on 25 July. That ridiculous street gathering in Makati on the 25th of July in 2005 should already have served as a warning to Cory of how big a joke Philippine street rallies had become. Sunstar.com had an interesting report on that Ayala Avenue street rally It looked like a huge street party with an interesting mix of characters Street vendors were out in full force, peddling corn on the cob, boiled bananas, fish balls, deepfried chicken gizzards on a stick and scoops of ice cream on hamburger buns. Music and entertainment were another crucial component, keeping the crowds from drifting away. Pop stars crooned on a huge stage and the Sex Bomb dancersa group of young women in tight white tops and blue capri pantsdid the classic bump and grind. The recently-published Schedule of Events that will make up the 25th Anniversary of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution promises a whole circus of activities and exhibits that will surely make it look like a kind of a Great Leap Forward. But in the same way the Chinese people, at some point reflected and regarded the Truth that said Leap never happened in their own recent history, we will eventually have to face the Truth ourselves and take stock of options around how best to move forward once the same realisation sinks in.