The Second EDSA Revolution (EDSA II or EDSA Dos) was a three-day political protest from January 17–20, 2001

that peacefully overthrew the government of Joseph Estrada, the thirteenth President of the Philippines. Estrada
resigned and was succeeded by his Vice-President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was sworn into office by then-
Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. at around noon on January 20, 2001, several hours before Estrada fled Malacañang
Palace. EDSA is an acronym derived from Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, the major thoroughfare connecting five
cities in Metro Manila, namely Pasay, Makati, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, and Caloocan, with the revolution's
epicentre at the EDSA Shrine church at the northern tip of Ortigas Center, a business district.
Advocates described EDSA II as "popular" but critics view the uprising as a conspiracy among political and business
elites, military top brass and Catholic Cardinal Jaime Sin.[2] International reaction to the revolt was mixed, with some
foreign nations including the United States immediately recognising the legitimacy of Arroyo's presidency, and
foreign commentators describing it as "a defeat for due process of law", "mob rule", and a "de facto coup".[3]
The only means of legitimizing the event was the last-minute Supreme Court ruling that "the welfare of the people is
the supreme law."[4] But by then, the Armed Forces of the Philippines had already withdrawn support for the
president, which some analysts called unconstitutional, and most foreign political analysts agreeing with this
assessment. William Overholt, a Hong Kong-based political economist said that "It is either being called mob rule or
mob rule as a cover for a well-planned coup, ... but either way, it's not democracy."[3] It should also be noted that
opinion was divided during EDSA II about whether Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as the incumbent Vice President
should be President if Joseph Estrada was ousted; many groups who participated in EDSA II expressly stated that
they did not want Arroyo for president either, and some of them would later participate in EDSA III. The prevailing
Constitution of the Philippines calls for the Vice President of the Philippines, Arroyo at the time, to act as interim
president only when the sitting President dies, resigns, or becomes incapacitated, none of which occurred during
EDSA II.

On October 4, 2000, Ilocos Sur Governor Luis "Chavit" Singson, a longtime friend of President Joseph Estrada,
went public with accusations that Estrada, his family and friends received millions of pesos from operations of the
illegal numbers game, jueteng.[5]
The exposé immediately ignited reactions of rage. The next day, Senate Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona,
Jr. delivered a fiery privilege speech accusing Estrada of receiving P220 million in jueteng money from Governor
Singson from November 1998 to August 2000, as well as taking P70 million on excise tax on cigarettes intended for
Ilocos Sur. The privilege speech was referred by Senate President Franklin Drilon, to the Blue Ribbon
Committee and the Committee on Justice for joint investigation. Another committee in the House of
Representatives decided to investigate the exposé, while other house members spearheaded a move to impeach
the president.[5]
More calls for resignation came from Manila Cardinal Archbishop Jaime Sin, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the
Philippines, former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos, and Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (who
had resigned her cabinet position of Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development). Cardinal Sin
stated in a statement "In the light of the scandals that besmirched the image of presidency, in the last two years, we
stand by our conviction that he has lost the moral authority to govern."[6] More resignations came from Estrada's
cabinet and economic advisers, and other members of congress defected from his ruling party.[5]
On November 13, 2000, the House of Representatives led by Speaker Manuel Villar transmitted the Articles of
Impeachment, signed by 115 representatives, to the Senate. This caused shakeups in the leadership of both houses
of congress.[5] The impeachment trial was formally opened on November 20, with twenty-one senators taking their
oaths as judges, and Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. presiding. The trial began on December 7.[5]
The day-to-day trial was covered on live television and received the highest viewing rating, mostly by the
broadcasting giant ABS-CBN at the time.[5]Among the highlights of the trial was the testimony of Clarissa Ocampo,
senior vice president of Equitable PCI Bank, who testified that she was one foot away from Estrada when he signed
the name "Jose Velarde" documents involving a P500 million investment agreement with their bank in February
2000.[5]

Contents

Background[edit]
Estrada was a popular actor-turned politician who ran under the slogan "Erap para sa mahirap," or "Erap for the
poor" [7] (referring to Estrada's nickname “Erap”).[8]
He was accused of receiving PHP 10 million monthly as protection money from gambling lords from November 1998
to August 2000 while he was president.[9] He also allegedly received PHP 130 million in kickbacks released by then
budget secretary Benjamin Diokno for tobacco farmers,[9] while his wife Loi Ejercito's foundation allegedly received
P100 million "to the detriment of regular beneficiaries."[10] Estrada was also accused of misusing 52 smuggled luxury
vehicles,[9] nepotism,[11] and he allegedly hid assets and bought mansions for his mistresses.[12] An impeachment trial
against Estrada began in the Philippine Senate on December 7, 2000.[13] Trial proceedings ended on January 18,
2001, after the trial jury decided not to examine evidence relating to Estrada's alleged secret bank account.[14] After
the breakdown of the impeachment trial, protesters assembled on EDSA, Metro Manila's main thoroughfare, "in
scenes reminiscent of the 1986 uprising which ousted the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos."[14]

Timeline in EDSA 2[edit]

On January 16, 2001, the impeachment trial of President Estrada moved to the investigation of an envelope
containing crucial evidence that would allegedly prove acts of political corruption by Estrada. Senators allied with
Estrada moved to block the evidence. The conflict between the senator-judges, and the prosecution became
deeper, but then Senate Majority Floor Leader Francisco Tatad requested to the Impeachment court to make a vote
for opening the second envelope. The vote resulted in 10 senators in favor of examining the evidence, and 11
senators in favor of suppressing it. The list of senators who voted for the second envelope are as follows:

Voted to examine Voted against examining

1. Rodolfo Biazon 1. Blas Ople†

2. Renato Cayetano†
3. Franklin Drilon
4. Juan Flavier†
5. Teofisto Guingona, Jr.
6. Loren Legarda
7. Ramon Magsaysay, Jr.
8. Sergio Osmeña III
9. Aquilino Pimentel, Jr.
10. Raul Roco†
2. Juan Ponce Enrile
3. Nikki Coseteng
4. Gregorio Honasan
5. Robert Jaworski
6. Teresa Aquino-Oreta
7. John Henry Osmeña
8. Ramon Revilla
9. Miriam Defensor Santiago†
10. Vicente Sotto III
11. Francisco Tatad

After the vote, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. resigned as Senate President and walked out of the impeachment
proceedings together with the 9 opposition Senators and 11 prosecutors in the Estrada impeachment trial. The 11
administration senators who voted YES to block the opening of the second envelope remained in Senate Session
Hall together with the members of the defense. The phrase "JOE'S COHORTS" quickly surfaced as a mnemonic
device for remembering their names (JOE'S COHORTS: Jaworski, Oreta, Enrile, Santiago, Coseteng, Osmena,
Honasan, Ople, Revilla, Tatad, Sotto).[15] However, in February 2001, at the initiative of Senate President Aquilino
Pimentel, Jr., the second envelope was opened before the local and foreign media and it contained the document
that stated that Jaime Dichavez and not Estrada owned the "Jose Velarde Account".[16][17]

Day 1: Wednesday, January 17, 2001[edit]

All 11 prosecutors in the Estrada impeachment trial resigned. Sen. Tessie Aquino-Oreta, one of three senators who
voted against opening the envelope (a "NO" vote), was seen on national television; most assumed that she was
dancing joyfully as the opposition walked out. This further fuelled the growing anti-Erap sentiments of the crowd
gathered at EDSA Shrine, and she became the most vilified of the 11 senators. She was labelled a "prostitute" and
a "concubine" of Erap for her dancing act, while Sen. Defensor-Santiago was also ridiculed by the crowd who
branded her a "lunatic".
As he did in the EDSA I protests, Cardinal Jaime Sin called on the people to join the rally at the shrine. During the
night, people began to gather in large numbers around the shrine.

Day 2: Thursday, January 18, 2001[edit]

The crowd continues to grow, bolstered by students from private schools and left-wing organizations. Activists from
the group Bayan and Akbayan as well as lawyers of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and other bar associations
joined in the thousands of protesters. A similar parallel anti-Estrada rally was held in Makati, and at the shrine area,
just as in 1986, stars and icons from the music industry entertained the vast crowds.

Day 3: Friday, January 19, 2001[edit]

The Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines withdraw their support for Estrada, joining
the crowds at the EDSA Shrine.
At 2:00 PM, Joseph Estrada appears on television for the first time since the beginning of the protests and maintains
that he will not resign. He says he wants the impeachment trial to continue, stressing that only a guilty verdict will
remove him from office.
At 6:15 PM, Estrada again appears on television, calling for a snap presidential election to be held concurrently with
congressional and local elections on May 14, 2001. He adds that he will not run in this election.

Day 4: Saturday, January 20, 2001[edit]

At noon, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo takes her oath of office in the presence of the crowd at EDSA, becoming the 14th
president of the Philippines. At the same time, however, a large anti-Estrada crowd had already gathered at the
historic Mendiola Bridge, having left the shrine earlier in the day, only to face PNP personnel and the pro-Estrada
supporters behind them, who had by now already attacked both the police and the anti-Estrada protesters and
heckling them and even members of the press.
At 2:00 PM, Estrada releases a letter saying he had "strong and serious doubts about the legality and
constitutionality of her proclamation as president".[18] In that same letter, however, he says he would give up his
office in order to allow for national reconciliation.
Later, Estrada and his family evacuate Malacañan Palace on boat along the Pasig River. They are smiling and
waving to reporters and shaking hands with the remaining Cabinet members and palace employees. He was initially
placed under house arrest in San Juan, but was later transferred to his rest home in Sampaloc, a small village
in Tanay, Rizal.

Aftermath[edit]
On the last day of protests on EDSA on January 20, 2001, Estrada resigned as president and his successor Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo was sworn into office by Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide Jr.[19][20]
On September 12, 2007, Estrada was found guilty of plunder beyond reasonable doubt by the Philippine anti-graft
court and sentenced to life imprisonment.[21][22][12] He was pardoned by Macapagal-Arroyo on October 25, 2007.[23][21]

Criticism[edit]
World reaction to the administration change was mixed. Though foreign nations, including the United States,
immediately expressed recognition of the legitimacy of Arroyo's presidency, foreign commentators described the
revolt as "a defeat for due process of law", "mob rule", and a "de facto coup".[3]
On January 18, 2008, Joseph Estrada's Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) caused full-page advertisement in Metro
Manila newspapers, blaming EDSA 2 of having "inflicted a dent on Philippine democracy". It featured clippings
questioned the constitutionality of the revolution. The published featured clippings were taken from Time, The New
York Times, The Straits Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Asia Times Online, The Economist,
and International Herald Tribune. Supreme Court justice Cecilia Muñoz Palma opined that EDSA 2 violated the 1987
Constitution.[24]
On February 2008 parts of the Catholic Church that played a vital role during EDSA II issued a sort of an apology.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo
expressed disappointment in Mrs. Arroyo, saying that the event which has become known as EDSA II, installed a
president who was reported in February 2008 by the Philippine newspaper The Daily Tribune as "... now being
adjudged in surveys as the country's 'most corrupt' leader".[25]
On March 13, 2008, Joseph Estrada named Lucio Tan, Jaime Sin, Fidel Ramos, Luis Singson, and the Ayala and
Lopez clans (who were both involved in water businesses) as co-conspirators of EDSA Revolution of 2001.[26]
In October 2016, Estrada claimed that it was the U.S. that ousted him from office.[27]
 Second EDSA Revolution
EDSA II

Date January 17–20, 2001

(3 days)

Location Philippines

Goals Removal of Joseph Estrada as

President

 Protests
Methods

Resulted  Estrada and his family

in leaves Malacañang Palace

 Resignation and ouster of

President Joseph Estrada

 Gloria Macapagal
Arroyobecomes President

People Power II in the Philippines: The First E-Revolution?

Julius Court

With the new Century over a year old, technology has now played critical yet very different roles in bringing
two of the world’s leaders to power. Among others things, Florida will remembered for technological hitches
that plagued the ballot counting and possibly pushed the outcome of the U.S. election in favor of George W.
Bush.

On the other hand, a new information and communications technology (ICT) - the mobile phone - was the
symbol of the People Power II revolution in the Philippines. Arguably, the most lasting image of Ms Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo’s new Presidency was when, on being asked in a news conference whether a Lt. Gen.
Espinosa was planning a coup, she called him up on her mobile phone. In moment of high drama she asked him
directly if this was the case and after a brief conversation reported it wasn’t.

But it was the use of cellphones for “texting” rather than calls that was the most intriguing part of People Power
II and was also the key to its success. The lack of attention to the role of technology is surprising. People Power
II was arguably the world’s first “E-revolution” - a change of government brought about by new forms of ICTs.

“Texting” allowed information on former President Estrada’s corruption to be shared widely. It helped facilitate
the protests at the EDSA shrine at a speed that was startling - it took only 88 hours after the collapse of
impeachment to remove Estrada. The use of mobile phones was why the mobilization (or perhaps “mobile-
ization”) was so large and so rapid and thus so decisive. Estrada himself blamed his ouster on the “text
messaging generation.”

Mobile phone technology was not just critical in the days preceding People Power II; it had been important over
a number of months. In Spring last year, Estrada ordered key government agencies to do something about
alleged text-messages abusing him. The same week, texters started passing around messages using an
exclamation mark as a symbol to call for an end to the Estrada government’s corruption, cronyism and
incompetence.

This exact form of revolution could probably only have happened in the Philippines. Manila is the texting
capital of the world. Philippines, a relatively poor country, has 4.5 million mobile phones. Texting is much
cheaper than making phone calls, making it so popular in a country like the Philippines. Filipinos can often text
with either – and sometimes even both – hands. They also text while driving – no mean feat on Manila’s
dangerous streets.

Normally used for brief and frivolous communications, the public outrage at the breakdown of the
impeachment, the degree of ownership of mobile phones and the networking potential of text messages
combined to ensure the Philippines was the

location of the first political revolution facilitated by modern ICTs. In the week of People Power II, Philippine
Mobile handled over 70 million text messages! As Reuters reported on January 24th, technology literally put the
power in Filipino peoples’ hands.

The Philippines case does raise some big questions about the broader implications of technological advances on
political action around the world. It is impossible to predict the exact outcomes, but the evidence does point in
interesting directions.

Will the example of the Philippines be repeated around the world? The Philippines has a history of starting
political trends. The first people power uprising in 1986 was a seminal event and one of models for similar
uprisings in South Korea and Eastern Europe as well as most recently in the former Yugoslavia. Certainly many
countries have more widespread mobile phone and internet access than the Philippines. So too the latest events
may prove as important as those of 1986. However, the model will not be in the nature of the event but rather in
how it was carried out.

Reflecting the debate regarding the “New Economy”, does this indicate the start of a “New Polity”? To some
degree, it probably does. The mobilizing power of new technologies, particularly the internet, have certainly
been demonstrated by interest groups at the global level. It is often argued that the Multilateral Agreement on
Investments (MAI) was defeated due to the resistance mobilized via internet. So too, the internet played a
crucial role in organizing and mobilizing people for the anti- globalization protests in Seattle, Washington and
Prague.

But the use of ICTs are sometimes far from benign. The leaders of the recent prison revolt in Brazil that left 20
people dead used mobile phones to stage co-ordinated uprisings in 29 jails. The internet carries many neo-Nazi,
racist and pornographic websites. New ICTs have made international crime easier to organize.

The pace of adoption of internet and mobile phone technologies around the world is staggering. At the same
time, the technologies continue to advance. For example the latest I-mode mobile phones allow the owner to
view TV and audio reports streamed over the internet. These continuing advances and the increasingly
widespread access to technology will make it easier and easier to share information and organize political
action. The challenge is to ensure it is for the better not for the worse. And to ensure it is not just a “connected”
few but that everyone has access to technologies.
ICTs are unlikely to change the main principles of politics. But, in particular in less established democracies,
this is unlikely to be the last time that the stunning advances in ICTs play a crucial role in helping the people
remove a bad leader. The people of the Philipines will have shown one way and for that we should thank the
“Text Brigade”.

Julius Court is a Programme Officer at the United Nations University and co-director of the World Governance
Survey project. These are his personal views.

EDSA Revolution became a uprising that experienced by millenniums victims. The EDSA Dos was a four-day
historic event which occurred Jan 17 to 21,2001 who the president at that moment was Joseph Estrada.

Due to the accusation of Ilocos Governor Chavit Singson to the President Estrada as “Lord of all Jueteng lords” for
receiving 5 million Philippine pesos’ protection money for his term. And because of this, political and economic crisis
became worse that it led the House of Representative to file an impeachment case against Estrada on the grounds
of bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, and culpable violation of the Constitution. The EDSA People
Power was chaos as the Catholic Church Leaders also that time had called for the President to resign. As the
Impeachment trial starts around December of Year 2000, a bank executive testified that Estrada has a hidden bank
account which contains 500 million pesos in which it is an amount that Estrada has not stated in his Statements of
Assets and Liabilities. A group have gathered in EDSA Shrine, 17th of January, year 2001 until the 20th of January to
address. Many have already called the president, telling him to step down from theoffice and as the time goes by,
many officials and military was news about their withdrawals with the support to the President Estrada.

It was a peaceful revolution overthrowing the President at that time. The Information and Communication
Technology at that time was a mobile phone. It was also believed that it is the first Empowerment Technology
Revolution. Mobile phones was use for sending message instead calls and that was the intriguing part of EDSA
Dos. People Power II was arguably the world’s first E-revolution which is a change of government that brought about
by new forms of Information and Communication Technology.

As the reports says, in the week of Edsa DOS, Mobiles in the Philippines handled over 70 million text messages and
technology literally put the power in Filipino peoples’ hands.

Sending a text allowed was the means of spreading the information on former President Estrada’s graft and
corruption to be shared widely. According to Julius Courte, a program officer, He said that during the People Power
2, the use of mobile phones was so large and rapid and thus so decisive.

I think the role of ICT during People Power 2 is it is the start of a mobile generation where it was used as instrument
for the every Filipino citizen to know what the government at that time was like. It also became a tool for the people
to know about the EDSA People Power Revolution II.It is more likely the tool that takes a big part for the Revolution
to happen.