Implications of the 1986 People Power Revolution

In a 1996 article for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Amando Doronila wrote that the 1986 People Power Revolution hindered a military plot to seize the government. He said that ten years later, the Philippines did not make a clean break from the Marcos dictatorship so its democracy and its transition remain flawed. Following is a copy of Doronila's analysis of the People Power Revolution.

"The prediction that the fervor of celebration of the People Power Revolution would wane over the years has been proved wrong. Ten years after the event, Edsa is commemorated with even more intense passion and partisanship than it was in the past..."

"If there should be a coup after the collapse of civil authority, it is certain to come from segments of the armed forces which not only monopolize the power of state coercion. The military also continues to harbor messianic officers who believe that the army has a right to intervene to save the nation from chaos..."

The EDSA Shrine on the corner of Ortigas and the People's Power Monument on the corner of White Plains were the center of the tenth anniversary celebration of the uprising. (Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer / February 25, 1996)

Remembering the 1986 People Power Revolution

Today is the twenty-eighth anniversary of the culmination of the People Power Revolution, a series of nonviolent demonstrations that resulted in the departure of President Ferdinand Marcos and the restoration of democracy in the country.

Philippine Daily Inquirer February 25, 1996

The People Power Revolution also paved the way for Corazon Aquino, the widow of opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., to become the Philippines' first woman president. It is also known as EDSA Revolution because majority of the demonstrations took place on a long stretch of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, popularly known by its acronym EDSA.

In 1996, the Philippine Daily Inquirer published a series of excerpts from Chronology of a Revolution, a book researched and written by Angela Stuart-Santiago and edited by Lorna Kalaw-Tirol. The book provides snippets of the People Power Revolution. The following are scanned copies of the fourth part of the series.

"MALACANANG PALACE: (Ferdinand) Marcos' two sons-in-law were supervising the packing of dozens of crates of family possessions, including hundreds of thousands of dollars of gold bullion and bonds, more than $1 million worth of freshly printed pesos, as well as artifacts and jewels. These were delivered by boat to a bayfront lawn adjacent to the US Embassy..."

"MALACANANG PALACE: (Col. Arturo C.) Aruiza saw Fe Roa Gimenez, Ms. Marcos' private secretary, emptying her desk of papers. At first, she fed them to the shredder but it was slow work. Aruiza suggested that she pile them all in one place and he would order the boys to burn them ..."