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Thirty four years ago President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law in the Philippines after all the restless social turmoil caused by student activism and civil unrest and a faked ambush on Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile. The declaration was initially met with with public approval, curfews were imposed and crime rate went down, he seized media establishments and companies from the economic elite and urged both the rich and poor to work for a Bagong Lipunan or a New Society.
On the eve of the Martial Law, Marcos arrested his political opponents, the first on the list of course, was Benigno 'Ninoy' Aquino, who on September 13 exposed 'Oplan Sagittarius', the blue print for Martial Law earlier.
And like the old adage says, absolute power corrupts absolutely and eventually the lack of checks and balances led to human rights abuses and graft and corruption within the military.
After years of solitary imprisonment, Ninoy Aquino was exiled to America and underwent heart surgery but Ninoy wasn't swayed by the Marcos regime and declared that he will return and that 'the Filipino was worth dying for.' Then on August 21, 1983, accompanied by a number of foreign journalists Ninoy made his way to Manila but despite the security, the number of witnesses from the foreign press as Ninoy was escorted out of the plane, he was shot in the head and his supposed assassin, Rolando Lagman, killed immediately after.
Ninoy's assassination became the catalyst for the Filipino people and mobilized the small opposition party into a nationwide campaign that mobilized Filipinos from all walks of life. A snap election was called despite overwhelming support for Corazon 'Cory' Aquino (Ninoy's widow) the Commission on Election (still under control of Marcos) declared Marcos the winner of the elections.
On February 22, Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos and Minister of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile (members of Marcos' notorious Rolex 12) withdrew support from Marcos and held a press conference stating their withdrawal with only a handful of soldiers supporting them. Radio Veritas, the only non-government station broadcasted their press conference later that night Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin asked the Filipino people to support Ramos and Enrile.
The call was answered, nun and priests arrived together with hundreds of people to show support and by dawn the numbers have swelled to hundreds of thousands. The People Power revolution was starting my parents attended the rally, I don't know if they brought me along or I happen to watch it on TV they wore yellow shirts and yellow ribbons and threw yellow confetti against bullets, and hung rosaries on rifles.
In a massive show of numbers, determined spirit and singing of Bayan Ko (My country) Marcos fled the country on February 25.
On the eve of the Martial Law, Marcos arrested his political opponents, the first on the list of course, was Benigno 'Ninoy' Aquino, who on September 13 exposed 'Oplan Sagittarius', the blue print for Martial Law earlier.
And like the old adage says, absolute power corrupts absolutely and eventually the lack of checks and balances led to human rights abuses and graft and corruption within the military.
After years of solitary imprisonment, Ninoy Aquino was exiled to America and underwent heart surgery but Ninoy wasn't swayed by the Marcos regime and declared that he will return and that 'the Filipino was worth dying for.' Then on August 21, 1983, accompanied by a number of foreign journalists Ninoy made his way to Manila but despite the security, the number of witnesses from the foreign press as Ninoy was escorted out of the plane, he was shot in the head and his supposed assassin, Rolando Lagman, killed immediately after.
Ninoy's assassination became the catalyst for the Filipino people and mobilized the small opposition party into a nationwide campaign that mobilized Filipinos from all walks of life. A snap election was called despite overwhelming support for Corazon 'Cory' Aquino (Ninoy's widow) the Commission on Election (still under control of Marcos) declared Marcos the winner of the elections.
On February 22, Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos and Minister of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile (members of Marcos' notorious Rolex 12) withdrew support from Marcos and held a press conference stating their withdrawal with only a handful of soldiers supporting them. Radio Veritas, the only non-government station broadcasted their press conference later that night Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin asked the Filipino people to support Ramos and Enrile.
The call was answered, nun and priests arrived together with hundreds of people to show support and by dawn the numbers have swelled to hundreds of thousands. The People Power revolution was starting my parents attended the rally, I don't know if they brought me along or I happen to watch it on TV they wore yellow shirts and yellow ribbons and threw yellow confetti against bullets, and hung rosaries on rifles.
In a massive show of numbers, determined spirit and singing of Bayan Ko (My country) Marcos fled the country on February 25.
This song has accompanied almost every struggle since the turn of the century to recapture the visions and ideals of the First Republic -- from the anti-American protest movement and millenarian revolts of the 1920's and 30's, to the resistance against the Japanese occupation in the 40's, the student revolt of the 70's and more recently, the 1986 "People's Power" revolt that toppled the Marcos dictatorship.
Original Tagalog lyrics by Jose Corazon de Jesus, melody by Constancio de Guzman.
Source: Philippine Graphic Centennial Yearbook.
*Lyrics from here
Martial Law timeline
Days of Paranoia, Nights of Unease
