UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

College of Education – Bachelor of Secondary Education

Reycy Justice Joy D. Vasquez
2SSM 2nd Term
EDSA 1986 PEOPLE POWER 1

The People Power Revolution also known as the EDSA Revolution and the Philippine Revolution
of 1986, was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines that began in 1983 and
culminated in 1986 with the overthrow of President Marcos. President Marcos came to power
in the Philippines in 1965. From the early days of his reign, he was seen as autocratic and
corrupt. To maintain power, he declared Martial Law in 1972 beginning a period of political
repression, censorship, assassinations and human rights violations. His main political rival was
Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. Ninoy-Marcos rivalry was essentially a clash between wildly
different political philosophies competing to become the vehicle for Philippine development
and prosperity.

(One type of social process is competition; it is a form of impersonalized struggle or

opposition to secure a reward or goal which cannot be shared. In this paragraph it is stated
that Ninoy and Marcos are rivals. They are competing to become a way for Philippine
development.)

When Aquino was returning home from the U.S after his medical treatment, he was shot dead
at the airport. The killing became a turning point of the country and a potent opposition
movement gathered around Corazon Aquino, the wife of Ninoy Aquino.

Marcos got threatened by the growing opposition so he attempted to win back his popularity
among the people, he held a snap presidential election in which he was opposed by Corazon
Aquino. This was the most corrupt and deceitful election in the Philippine history, with clear
evidence of electoral fraud. It led to some of Marcos’ former ministers, the army and the
church leaders calling for his removal from office. These call united people all over the country
in doing mass peaceful protests against Marcos. It started to break in a cry for democracy and
the demand to oust Marcos. The revolt started off when Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile
and the Armed Forces Vice Chief of Staff command of Fidel V. Ramos withdrew their support
and called upon the resignation of President Marcos.

(Another one is the conflict; efforts are directed to neutralize, injure or eliminate rivals. In this
scenario, the conflict was Marcos being accused of killing Ninoy. Accommodation is another
social process that has 7 different kinds one of which is compromise; It is talking over
thoroughly possible ways to minimize or avoid difficulties. The snap presidential election is a
compromise to somehow settle the issue and accommodate the conflict ongoing).

The protesters blocked Manila's main thoroughfare, the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA).
They refused to end the protests in resistance of repeated threats from President Marcos. On
the second day, the president sent in tanks to clear the streets. But the troops refused to fire,
prompting one of the most iconic images of the revolution - nuns kneeled in front of tanks with
rosaries in their hands and uttering their prayers.

(The people united through protests to oust Marcos. This is called conjunctive social process
since this social interaction lead to unity and cooperation of the people. Somehow for the
tanks not to bomb them they knelt in front to minimize the conflict, which is also known as
accommodation. We can also see that the people became separated (man vs. man) the
citizens and the army are fighting against each other, this type of social process is known as
disconjunctive social process where the event lead to disunity and division).

After just four days, President Marcos stepped down and fled the country.  On February 25th
1986, Corazon Aquino was proclaimed as the 11th President of the Republic of the Philippines.
She was the first female president of the country. 

(The last social process I’ve seen is cooperation; it is a kind of action or alliance of persons or
groups seeking a common goal. Due to the cooperation of the people protesting, they were
able to make President Marcos step down of his position).

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.philippine-history.org/edsa-people-power-revolution.htm

Shaw, T. (2020, January 1). People Power Revolution in Philippines in 2021. Retrieved from
https://www.officeholidays.com/holidays/philippines/people-power-revolution