Ways of Changing the Government

1. Election- is the formal process of selecting a person for public office by voting. It is the people’s
right to choose new leader.

The President of the Philippines is elected by direct vote by the people for a term of six years. He
may only serve for one term, and is ineligible for reelection. The term of the President of the
Philippines starts at noon of the 30th day of June after the election.

2. Plebiscite- to rectify the constitution.

Example:

When democracy was restored in 1986, President Corazon C. Aquino issued Proclamation No. 3,
suspending certain provisions of the 1973 Constitution and promulgating in its stead a transitory
constitution. A month later, President Aquino issued Proclamation No. 9, s. 1986, which created
a Constitutional Commission tasked with writing a new charter to replace the 1973 Constitution.
The commission finished its work at 12:28 a.m. of October 16, 1986. National Plebiscite was
held on February 2, 1987, ratifying the new constitution. On February 11, 1987, by virtue of
Proclamation No. 58, President Aquino announced the official canvassing of results and the
ratification of the draft constitution. The 1987 Constitution finally came into full force and effect
that same day with the President, other civilian officials, and members of the Armed Forces
swearing allegiance to the new charter.

Approved by the 1986 Constitutional Commission on October 12, 1986, the 1987 Constitution of
the Republic of the Philippines was presented to President Corazon C. Aquino on October 15,
1986. It was ratified on February 2, 1987 by a plebiscite. It was proclaimed in force on February
11, 1987.

3. Natural or accidental death of a chief executive

Manuel Roxas

On April 15, 1948, following a speech before an audience of assembled airmen at Clark Field
Air Base, President Roxas died of a heart attack. Vice President Elpidio Quirino assumed the
presidency on April 17, 1948.

Ramon Magsaysay

On March 17, 1957, President Ramon F. Magsaysay, the so-called champion of the Filipino
masses, died at the age of 49 in a plane crash in Cebu. President Carlos P. Garcia then took the

ONGCOY, JASMINE JOY D. AB-POLSCI 1A

 oath of succession to the Presidency five minutes after he had convened members of President
Magsaysay’s Cabinet and officially notified them of the late President’s demise.

Manuel L. Quezon

On August 1, 1944, following the death of President Manuel L. Quezon due to tuberculosis, Vice
President Sergio Osmeña took his oath of office and became the second President of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines.

4. Resignation or voluntary exile of a chief executive

5. Through impeachment either trial or conviction

Joseph Estrada

Shortly after winning office in 1998, Estrada's political troubles began when he was hounded by
allegations that he received millions of pesos from the illegal numbers game jueteng. Faced with
mounting criticism even from within his own government, loss of public confidence in his
leadership, and public protests demanding his resignation, Estrada left Malacañang Palace on
January 20, 2001, around two hours after Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took her oath as president.

In a statement issued that day, Estrada maintained that he had "strong and serious doubts about
the legality and constitutionality of [Arroyo's] proclamation as President," but said that he did not
wish to prevent the restoration of unity and order.

"It is for this reason that I now leave Malacañang Palace, the seat of the presidency of this
country, for the sake of peace and in order to begin the healing process of our nation. I leave the
Palace of our people with gratitude for the opportunities given to me for service to our people. I
will not shirk from any future challenges that may come ahead in the same service of our
country."

SECTION 11. Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker
of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers
and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such
powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President. Whenever a
majority of all the Members of the Cabinet transmit to the President of the Senate and to the
Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to
discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice-President shall immediately assume the
powers and duties of the office as Acting President. Thereafter, when the President transmits to
the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written
declaration that no inability exists, he shall reassume the powers and duties of his office.
Meanwhile, should a majority of all the Members of the Cabinet transmit within five days to the

ONGCOY, JASMINE JOY D. AB-POLSCI 1A

 President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written
declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the
Congress shall decide the issue. For that purpose, the Congress shall convene, if it is not in
session, within forty-eight hours, in accordance with its rules and without need of call. If the
Congress, within ten days after receipt of the last written declaration, or, if not in session, within
twelve days after it is required to assemble, determines by a two-thirds vote of both Houses,
voting separately, that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the
Vice-President shall act as the President; otherwise, the President shall continue exercising the
powers and duties of his office.

On the same day, he also signed a letter addressed to the former House speaker and Senate
President invoking Section 11, Article VII of the Constitution. It was Estrada's declaration that
he was unable to exercise the powers and duties of his office.

* Estrada also faced the impeachment trial with allegations of bribery, graft and corruption,
betrayal of public trust, and culpable violation of the Constitution. Former President Joseph
Estrada was then convicted by the Sanguniang bayan of plunder and imposed a penalty of
Reclusion Perpetua*

6. Through revolution

President Ferdinand E. Marcos assumed power on December 30, 1965, and re-elected to office in
1969. There were efforts of maneuver the 1971 Constitutional Convention to permit his
continuing in office.

Ferdinand E. Marcos unseated by the People Power revolution. From February 22 to 25, 1986,
hundreds of thousands of people amassed at Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), main
throughfare, calling for the peaceful ouster of the dictator.

Factors that led to the fall of the Dictatorship

1. Opposition to Martial Law in the 1970s

Reformist Opposition

The reformist opposition, also known as the legal opposition, was composed of members of
the upper-middle class. Using nonviolent tactics, they advocated political (not necessarily
socioeconomic) reforms. However, the reformist opposition was not a united movement, but
an amalgamation of different middle- and upper-class groups who had different motives. The
reformers shared certain values, such as support for the rule of law, constitutional legitimacy,

ONGCOY, JASMINE JOY D. AB-POLSCI 1A

 free elections, and the protection of personal freedoms, and they agreed on the need to replace
Marcos.

The most prominent opposition movement that participated in the IBP elections was the
newly formed Lakas ng Bayan (LABAN) party of former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino
Jr., who was imprisoned at that time.

Revolutionary Opposition

The government’s use of communist and secessionist threats as justification for Martial Law
only contributed to the growth of the political opposition and the amassing of recruits to the
New People’s Army (NPA) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in the provinces
in the 1970s.

Religious Opposition

Martial Law also faced opposition from the religious sector. Mainline Protestant churches
have been vocal in their opposition of the dictatorship since 1972; by 1978, they were holding
mass protest actions, and by 1981, they held boycott campaigns for the April plebiscite and
the June presidential elections.

2. The Failure of the Snap Election of 1986

In the first week of November 1985, when President Marcos was interviewed, he stated his
intention to call for a snap election. The announcement for a snap election within three
months was ahead of schedule; the next regular elections were supposed to be held in 1987.

Meanwhile, prior to the snap election announcement, a “Convenor Group” was formed,
composed of Lorenzo Tañada, Jaime V. Ongpin, and Cory Aquino, to select a presidential
candidate for the opposition. Cory was regarded as the rightful candidate, the “people’s
choice,” who was also promoted by Jaime Cardinal Sin.

Cory Aquino announced her intention to run if a snap election was to be held, and if she had
the support of a million citizens. She was successful in gaining this support.

3. Coup Plot by the RAM

The Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) emerged in 1982 as a small, secret group
intent on strengthening military rule through a coup d’état. Initially, it was composed of
Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and a handful of regular officers from the Philippine
Military Academy (PMA), who harbored resentment against General Fabian Ver, the Chief of
Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

ONGCOY, JASMINE JOY D. AB-POLSCI 1A

 On February 25, 1986, Corazon C. Aquino and Salvador H. Laurel took their oaths in Club
Filipino as President and Vice President respectively. Meanwhile, Marcos was inaugurated in the
Ceremonial Hall of the Malacañan Palace and delivered his inaugural address in Maharlika Hall
(now Kalayaan Hall) on that same day. Rocked by key military and political defections and the
overwhelming popular support for Aquino, Marcos was forced to depart with his family a few
hours later for exile in Hawaii, effectively ending Marcos’ two-decade long dictatorial rule.

7. Assassination / Murder of a Chief Executive

8. Foreign invasion
9. Civil war
Coup d’etat

A coup d’etat is a French word which describes a method of displacing a government or

supplanting a regime through the use of military violence. A coup d’etat is “a direct seizure of
political control by members of the armed forces, who may be acting in concert with civilian
allies.”

A coup d’etat is both a political act and a military action. It is the product of a coalition of cliques
and groups, usually including both military and civilian elements

1. The coup d’etat, or more appropriately, the coup attempt, as a politico-military event is a
recent phenomenon in the Philippine political scene. The country experienced its first coup
attempt in February 1986, when members of the Reform the Armed Forces of the
Philippines Movement (RAM) tried to stage one against former President Ferdinand E.
Marcos. That attempt failed when security forces loyal to President Marcos uncovered the
plot. Subsequent events overtook that coup when the people staged the popular People
Power Revolt at EDSA and successfully ended Marcos’s rule. That popular revolt confirmed
the election victory of and installed Corazon C. Aquino as the duly elected seventh President
of the Republic of the Philippines.

2. The most serious attempted coup d'etat against the government of Philippine President
Corazon Aquino was staged beginning December 1, 1989, by members of the Armed Forces
of the Philippines belonging to the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) and
soldiers loyal to former President Ferdinand Marcos. The coup was led by Colonel Gregorio
Honasan, General Edgardo Abenina, and retired General Jose Ma. Zumel, and staged by an
alliance of the RAM, led by Honasan, and troops loyal to Marcos, led by Zumel.[1] At the
onset of the coup, the rebels seized Villamor Airbase, Fort Bonifacio, Sangley Airbase,
Mactan Airbase in Cebu, and portions of Camp Aguinaldo. The rebels set patrols around the
runway of Ninoy Aquino International Airport effectively shutting it down. From Sangley
Airbase, the rebels launched planes and helicopters which bombarded and strafed Malacañan
Palace, Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo.

ONGCOY, JASMINE JOY D. AB-POLSCI 1A

3. The Oakwood mutiny occurred in the Philippines on July 27, 2003. A group of 321 armed
soldiers who called themselves "Bagong Katipuneros" led by Army Capt. Gerardo Gambala
and Lt. Sg. Antonio Trillanes IV of the Philippine Navy took over the Oakwood Premier
Ayala Center (now Ascott Makati) serviced apartment tower in Makati to show the Filipino
people the alleged corruption of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration. They also
stated that they saw signs suggesting that the President was going to declare martial law.

Calling themselves the Magdalo group, the soldiers railed against alleged anomalies in the
Armed Forces of the Philippines Retirement and Separation Benefits System, the military
procurement system (including the purchase of substandard equipment for soldiers) and the
construction and repair of various facilities at Marine Base, Cavite, as well as the alleged
transfer of arms and ammunition to unauthorized parties.

They also called for the resignation of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, then
Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, then Philippine National Police Director Gen.
Hermogenes Ebdane, and Victor Corpus, then chief of the AFP Intelligence Service.

The soldiers occupied Oakwood for at least 20 hours before emerging from negotiations
with the government and ending their mutiny. They were later charged with coup d’etat.

ONGCOY, JASMINE JOY D. AB-POLSCI 1A