Never Forget-People Power Revolution

Carmina and Patch process their conflicted emotions and dusted off the proverbial cobwebs from their collective memories to discuss the People Power Revolution on its 37th anniversary. They discuss both forgotten and newly-discovered “tea” that will be fodder for future episodes. Join them as they recall the crucial events of this #neveragainneverforget moment.

To learn more: In Our Image: America’s Empire in the Philippines, A History of the Philippines: From Indios Bravos to Filipinos, Culture, Religion, and Moral Vision: A Theological Discourse on the Filipino People Power Revolution of 1986, Timeline EDSA People Power Revolution, How US Derailed Philippine History 1986, The Final Hours: EDSA People Power Revolution | Need to Know, People Power: AN EYEWITNESS HISTORY, THE PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION OF 1986, Footages from EDSA People Power Revolution, Philippines Election: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO), 2 KEY MILITARY LEADERS QUIT AND URGE MARCOS TO RESIGN; HE CALLS ON THEM TO SUBMIT, Why the president could not wait, Regime Change In The Philippines, and WHITE HOUSE SIGNALS ITS SUPPORT FOR 2 MILITARY MEN IN PHILIPPINES.

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Transcript

Carmina: 0:06

Welcome to FilTrip, a podcast where we explore everything fun, weird, and in between about the Philippines. And now a quick shout out. Check out Manila Candle. Manila Candle features Filipino inspired scents like Tagaytay, Palawan, Ube Halaya and Buco and Mango. They also have fun ones like Ay Nako and Bahala Ka Sa Buhay Mo.

Patch: 0:35

Enjoy their car fresheners, wax melts and merchandise to visit manilacandle.com and take a trip to the Philippines through their scents.

Carmina: 0:46

Back to our show. Today's trip is a roundtrip When we talk about historical facts and things that connect us back. In this episode, we'll be talking about the people power revolution, which is commemorated on February 25. This is one of those times when I wish I had kept a diary<laugh>, because in some ways things happened so fast, and yet it was also a very long time coming. I wish I was able to capture exactly what I felt, what I saw on each of the days that made up the whole event, and I really was amazed it was successful because back then there was no internet, there was no social media, and there was a media blackout.

Patch: 1:36

Whatever news we did have was very much controlled by the government.

Carmina: 1:40

I'm happy and proud, and also depressed<laugh> that in spite of it. Here we are today, I can't really decide.

Patch: 1:50

Mm-hmm.<affirmative>,

Carmina: 1:51

what do you feel about this episode?

Patch: 1:53

Looking back now with fresh eyes, of course, very proud because this is one stamp that we have in world history. You know, of course, also sad remembering all that had transpired in the past, so very much conflicted.

Carmina: 2:07

Many believe that after the romantic high from the event wore off, what really happened was a falling back into elite democracy, which continued past problems of poverty, cronyism, and nepotism. This is one of the reasons why we're so conflicted about people power. Right?

Patch: 2:28

Right.

Carmina: 2:28

It also made me remember what we said after the last presidential election, that we feel like we didn't capitalize on that forward momentum, and that our generation, in some ways, let's face it, failed to embed t he spirit into our national DNA. But I really still do believe that it did spark something. I also want to mention a quote by J ose Diokno, who i s considered one of the most devoted political activists. He never lost faith in the Filipinos ability to overcome hardships. This is what he said. Do not forget, we, Filipinos are the first Asian people who revolted against a western imperial power. Spain, the first who adopted a Democratic Republican constitution in Asia, the Malolos constitution, the first to fight the first major war of the 20th century against another western imperial power, the United States of America. There is no insurmountable barrier that could stop us from becoming what we want to be.

Patch: 3:46

It's just a reminder to all of us that even if we feel like we are in our weakest point in our recent history, it still gives us hope that we can overcome.

Carmina: 3:58

In any case, some people say that people power began with assassination of Nina Aquino on August 21st, 1983. But in reality, it really was a culmination of a twenty year oppressive regime that resulted in many, many deaths and tortures over that period.

Patch: 4:20

And also the economic decline of the Philippines.

Carmina: 4:24

For now, though, let's focus on the events that led to people power. And like I said, it was jump started by Ninoy's simultaneous homecoming and death. For people who don't know, Ninoy was a political prisoner for seven and a half years and was only allowed to leave because of a heart condition. He went to the US to have open heart surgery in 1980.

Patch: 4:50

At that time, he was a senator. He was a major political rival of then President Fredinand Marcos, and was one of the first to be arrested after the abolition of Congress and declaration of martial law in 1972.

Carmina: 5:08

By 1983, there were rumors that Marcos was sick with lupus, and that Imelda was poised to succeed him and Ninoy wanted to prevent this desperately, you know, Patch, watching footage of Ninoy being interviewed in the air on his way to Manila. He totally predicted his assassination. He told reporters to get their cameras ready because in his words, things will happen so fast.

Patch: 5:35

I wonder if he predicted exactly how fast things were going to transpire. I feel like he thought he had a little bit more time instead of being gunned down as soon as he set foot on land.

Carmina: 5:51

I don't even think he set foot on the tarmac. I think it happened right before he was gonna descend the few more steps.

Patch: 6:00

Oh, that's right.

Carmina: 6:02

I feel like we need to devote a whole episode just on the assassination itself and talk about all of the little known details or things that we missed, because there's just so much to unpack there.

Patch: 6:15

But for now, we should also probably mention the so-called assassin Rolando Galman.

Carmina: 6:23

Rolando Galman was also gunned down immediately, and I really can't tell you whether it was right after Ninoy was shot, because again, there are so many conflicting accounts, right? Some people said that the dead body of Rolando Galman was dragged into the scene as soon as Ninoy was shot.

Patch: 6:42

Right? I remember hearing rumors that there was like ice--alluding to the fact that his body was already frozen, that he was already dead to begin with.

Carmina: 6:52

But just some statistics Patch about what Ninoy's assassination inspired. There were 165 rallies, marches, and other demonstrations between August 21 and September 30, 1983. The largest was Ninoy's funeral procession. It took 11 hours and was attended by an estimated 2 million people, and then protests continued the following year, there were more than a hundred between October, 1983 and February, 1984.

Patch: 7:28

I just remember images of a sea of yellow.

Carmina: 7:32

And aside from the sea of yellow Patch, one vivid image that I had in my mind was what the body of Ninoy looked like,

Patch: 7:41

Right.

Carmina: 7:41

His mom specifically did not want his body to be touched, and I really think that had a very strong impact on the Filipinos. So the next significant event that happened, patch was Marcos' announcement of the Snap elections. And I didn't know this, but he made this announcement on a US TV news show called"This Week with David Brinkley" in 1985. And at first I wondered why he chose this forum to announce the Snap elections. And I remembered during that time, Marcos was experiencing long-running support from the US government for most of his 20 year reign.

Patch: 8:26

I remember during the eighties, it was a well-known fact that President Marcos was very close to then President Reagan. Also, they both shared anti-communist stance.

Carmina: 8:38

And let's just be clear, there really was a known bromance between the two.

Patch: 8:44

<laugh>, Right.

Carmina: 8:45

So after his announcement, Cory Aquino's supporters collected 1 million signatures to convince her to run against president Marcos.

Patch: 8:56

She was very much known as the soft spoken widow housewife. And if these signatures weren't collected, she probably wouldn't have run for precedent. That's at least the popular opinion about Cory.

Carmina: 9:12

But run, she did. I wasn't yet eligible to vote at that time, but the whole country was glued to the television waiting for the election results. And I distinctly remember conflicting counts. The Commission on Elections or COMELEC were reporting that Marcos was leading, and the elections watch dog, national Citizens Movement for Free elections, or NAMFREL for short, was reporting that Aquino was leading.

Patch: 9:43

February 7th, 1986 was when the snap elections were held. NAMFREL declared Cory Aquino the victor.

Carmina: 9:52

The day after the elections. I also distinctly remember this, there were some really brave men and women who walked out on live TV in protest. These were COMELEC computer operators, and they were very frustrated because the numbers being reported on TV were vastly different than what they counted on their computers. Can you imagine being one of those men and women? I mean, especially during those times, just speaking, ill of the government could get you killed. And here they were walking out on live tv.

Patch: 10:30

Just a few of many who were very brave and really were heroic.

Carmina: 10:36

I remember the few weeks after the elections being very, very tense because there were a lot of claims being made by both sides. But on February 20, Marcos declared himself the winner, and on the same day, Cory led a People's Victory rally and called for a boycott of crony led businesses. Approximately two million people were said to have joined. Cory stocks of crony businesses fell the next day leading a lot of businessmen in the coming days to move money out of the Philippines. So there were four days that are officially part of the People Power Revolution. The first day was February 22nd, a military base called Camp Crame became the command post of then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, and General Fidel Ramos, the Vice Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. They camped there after issuing a joint statement demanding Marcos to resign. By the way, Patch, I mentioned Enrile name with a bit of a side eye<laugh>.

Patch: 11:48

Mm-hmm.<affirmative>,

Carmina: 11:49

Because lest we forget, he was a central figure in the implementation of Martial Law in 1972. And now with the benefit of age hindsight and a lot of documentation, the backstory about Enrile is something that I think is worthy of further discussion.

Patch: 12:10

Again for future episodes right?

Carmina: 12:12

And I also discovered an alternate backstory. There was a faction of the military called RAM, which stood for Reform the Armed Forces movement. Do you remember that patch? Right? It was founded on July 23rd, 1982. They were disillusioned by what they viewed as corruption and patronage in the armed forces of the Philippines. RAM was apparently already planning a coup before the end of 1985. But again, Marcos surprised everyone when he announced the snap elections. They were said to have even coordinated with civilian activists, including those that supported Cory. However, there was a mole who was feeding information back to the administration, and Enrile was warned by RAM that Marcos would set him up.

Patch: 13:05

That mole you mentioned was actually some kind of double agent. It's very intriguing. Anyway, I'm sorry to interrupt. Go ahead.<laugh>

Carmina: 13:13

Enrile then contacted General Fidel Ramos, who controlled the Philippines constabulary. And it was really crucial that he joined them because Camp Crame was right beside another camp, Camp Aguinaldo, that Fidel Ramos controlled. Thankfully, Ramos joined them, and I didn't realize this Patch, he's Marcos's cousin. Apparently

Patch: 13:41

On February 16, Marcos announced Ver's resignation as Chief of Staff, and Ramos was appointed as acting Chief of Staff. But on February 21, Marcos indefinitely deferred Ver's resignation that played a part in this whole scenario.

Carmina: 14:04

Another episode in the making<laugh>.

Patch: 14:07

I know there's so many.

Carmina: 14:09

In any case, back to People Power. Okay,

Patch: 14:12

<laugh>, We digress.

Carmina: 14:15

Marcos ordered forces to the camps to suppress Enrile, R amos and their supporters. That evening another figure got into the picture, Cardinal Jaime Sin. He called in t h e F ilipinos to go to the camps to support Enrile an d R a mos. And because there was a media blackout and only Ma rco P ropaganda ne ws w as being broadcast, the Cardinal used the Catholic ru n r adio outlet called Ra dio V e ritas, and I find it so fitting that the word Veritas means truth in English. And it became the major vehicle for protest communications and was crucial because it also became Cory's communication center. Radio Veritas delivered bl ow b y b l ow r eporting of events until the military forces destroyed its transmitter.

Patch: 15:08

I just remember part of the call Cardinal Sin was making was to support them, but also he was calling for food. They were basically entrapped. He was also calling for the people to become essentially human shields.

Carmina: 15:23

And it was really amazing because people from all walks of life turned out across all social economic classes. Priests and nuns also were there, and they linked arms with students, old people, even children. I distinctly remember begging to go, and especially since some of our friends actually were there.

Patch: 15:48

Um, can I make a confession?

Carmina: 15:50

Mm.

Patch: 15:51

I I was not begging to go<laugh>.

Carmina: 15:54

That's okay.<laugh>. I think that was the more sensible, uh, way to go, especially since we were really very young.

Patch: 16:03

It was very generous of you to say sensible<laugh>. What you really meant to say was cowardly. Oh, that was, that was me.<laugh>.

Carmina: 16:15

So I mentioned the clergy and to people in the United States, they might really be surprised about the intimate involvement of the church and People Power, because here in the US the separation between church and state is very, very clear. And I really thought that this was a local phenomenon, given that majority of the Philippines is Catholic, I just chalked it up to, you know, that's what it was, right? The Cardinal asked you to go and being good Catholics, we followed. But I learned that there was a movement in the 1960s a nd 1970s called Liberation Theology. Liberation Theology believed that the religious faith should help the poor and oppressed by involvement in political and civic affairs. And the founder of its movement, Gustavo C heez was born in Peru. It was very controversial, and the Vatican doesn't really approve of it, but it flourished i n Latin America and spread across third w orld countries. T here are parallels between the Philippines and Latin America, especially when it comes to poverty, corruption, and oppression. And I guess that's not surprising because of our very similar colonial histories. Liberation Theologists believed that God speaks t hrough the poor and that the Bible should be read from the perspective of the oppressed because their conditions were very closely similar to the life of Jesus Christ. In fact, many Filipino clergy and nuns were tortured and killed in their support of the oppressed.

Patch: 17:49

If you Google People Power now, a lot of the images that will come up surely will include nuns and priests linking arms and holding the rosary, forming the human shield.

Carmina: 18:02

And it got me thinking Patch, the nuns and our school were super politically and socially active. And I appreciated that they were, because it was such a crucial time in our history. So I'm convinced that they were guided by Liberation Theology.

Patch: 18:20

It seems that way.

Carmina: 18:21

So here's another backstory patch that I didn't quite appreciate when all these events were unfolding.

Patch: 18:28

By backstory, do you mean tea?

Carmina: 18:30

<laugh> A little bit. Cardinal Sin didn't really start off as being blatantly opposed to Marcos. He adopted the stance of what he called critical collaboration. On the one hand, he was showing support for Marcos by trying to control the members of the clergy who were viewed as leftist. He was also attending many of the social events of the Marcoses. To be fair, he was also at the same time critical of human rights violations. But during those early periods, he was doing this through thinly veiled jokes and jabs at the administration.

Patch: 19:11

He was such a prominent figure in our youth, because see, we would hear about him all the time.

Carmina: 19:18

It was only after Ninoy's death that cardinal sin became more direct in his criticisms. And no matter what can be said for the period before that, it really can't be denied that he played a big role. Okay, so after the hour by hour developments of February 22, on February 23, military and tanks arrived at Camp Crame. It was also on that day that Cory called on the people to go there. By this time, Radio Veritas went off the air because the military had destroyed its transmitter. Do you remember the broadcaster Patch who was doing this? Blow by blow. Her name was June Keithley.

Patch: 20:02

June Keithley Castro. She worked as a radio broadcaster during Martial Law. She defied media censorship loss by providing live coverage of people power on Radio Bandido, a secret station set up in Santa Mesa. She also encouraged Filipinos to take part in the revolution. And even after her death in 2013, she was named one of the People Power Heroines.

Carmina: 20:33

February 23 was also when the military started defecting to the other side, which then leads us to February 24th. More and more people gathered at Camp Crame and surrounded it. Patch, I think this is the time when we saw images on TV of people kneeling in front of tanks, people giving flowers to the military. An all out attack with teargas was ordered by general Ver, but the civilians stayed put. Even with all of this escalation, Marcos still refused to concede. During this time, Reagan was being pressured by his administration to pull his support for Marcos. And in fact, by 7:30 PM the US declared support for Aquino.

Patch: 21:23

Eight the evening, Marcos declared a nationwide curfew, but civilians defied his curfew and thousands poured out in the streets.

Carmina: 21:36

By February 25, people continued to increase a number, and more and more military were defecting soldiers came down from their tanks with white flags and rifles as a sign of joining with the people.

Patch: 21:52

Okay, so Carmina, we are now on Tuesday, February 25, and this was inauguration day.

Carmina: 22:00

Cory Aquino was sworn in as president by Senior Justice, Claudio Tehanki at 10:00 AM in Club Filipino. And there's another backstory to this Patch.

Patch: 22:11

What,

Carmina: 22:12

Enrile actually wanted Cory to take her oath in Camp Crame, but Cory's Spidey sense tingled<laugh>, and she refused. She had a suspicion that it would be used to symbolize her government as military sanctioned. Again, another topic for another episode.

Patch: 22:33

Mm-hmm.<affirmative>.

Carmina: 22:34

So back to People Power, Marcos started preparing for his own inauguration and did so at 11:55 AM as he was being sworn in live coverage was cut off because the transmitter was knocked out by the rebels and the screens went blank. In fact, Marcos kept being offered by the US to escape, and he kept declining. It was not until 6:00 PM that they finally succeeded. At 9:05 PM the first helicopter departed Malacanang, the presidential palace. At 9:52 PM It was announced on the radio that Marcos had left and people stormed Malacanang.

Patch: 23:18

I did wanna add to that, that even at this time, priests and nuns intervened to prevent violent conflicts between the groups of still existing Marcos loyalists and the masses that were supporting Cory.

Carmina: 23:32

You know, my husband says that he was part of the masses who stormed Malacanang.

Patch: 23:38

Really?

Carmina: 23:39

Yeah. I didn't know that until I asked him recently.

Patch: 23:43

So did he actually get to enter the palace at that time?

Carmina: 23:47

That's what he says. And he said that it was mostly peaceful. And so I asked him, did you steal anything?<laugh>

Patch: 23:54

We won't tell anyone.

Carmina: 23:56

Yes, it's all between us. He did say that he took a piece of barbed wire, because if you remember, the barbed wire was the universal sign of oppression.

Patch: 24:09

Another image that I remember is seeing people throwing papers outside of the windows in the balconies. And I was very concerned,<laugh>, we need those.

Carmina: 24:18

<laugh>. That's right.

Patch: 24:20

And this is when the famous footage of Imelda Marcos' collection of shoes became known.

Carmina: 24:26

And I want to quote from a book that lists some of the things that were seen. This is from a history of the Philippines by Louis H Francia. So get Ready Patch quote,"that the President was seriously ill was evident in the mini clinic that had been set up with sophisticated medical equipment, cabinets full of vitamins and medications, disposable diapers, and a dialysis machine. In the basement, two hospital rooms had been set up. One of them clearly meant for surgery." And then this is what the book says about Imelda."Imelda q uarters b ore quantifiable evidence of her mania for expensive items. A never-ending attempt to fill the needs of a deprived childhood. Her mirror dressing room was filled with hundreds of costly si lk d resses. Baskets crammed with soaps from around the world and ro w u pon ro w o f expensive French perfumes. Elsewhere wer e a half dozen widescreen TV sets, stereo units, and a double freezer full of frozen steaks. In her bedroom stood a 10 foot high closet packed with her nightgowns. Underneath her 12 foot wide bed, according to the late journalist and national artis t for literature, Nick Joaq u in were bundles of gold chain neck laces and a receipt for over two million from the jewelers of Van Clef and Arpels. Mrs. Marcos's private bathroom was equipped with a 15 foot square sunken bathtub, mirro red ceil ings, gallo n bott les of a custom made Fren ch perfume called First Lady. And no fewer than five Italian bathrobes. A tally would reveal that Imelda left behind 3,000 thousand panties, 3,000 pairs of shoes, hundreds of black bras, one of which was bulletproof. And five fur coats including minks." I m ean, 3,000 panties.

Patch: 27:03

No comment.

Carmina: 27:05

Ah. Anyway, there was a footage on YouTube, a really old one that was preserved, and several people were expressing their disgust at all of this while they were suffering and toiling from day to day. So, okay, let's talk about the epilogue of People Power. Also something that didn't quite sink in at the time while we were experiencing it, but after Cory became president, she faced six coup attempts in her first year and a seventh one in 1989. I really can't even fathom that we lived through all that uncertainty and turmoil. I do have a vague memory of that last one in 1989, because it was the most violent and the one that took most lives. I think what I read was about 99 people were killed and 50 of them were civilians. I lived close to one of the sites that were seized by the rebels, the Villamor Airbase. And I remember hearing rifle fire from time to time. And when we were finally allowed to go back to school, I remember passing buildings with bullet holes on them. And the irony of it all was that RAM who was very influential in helping orchestrate People Power, was also responsible for leading some of these coup attempts. The others were led by Marcos loyalists.

Patch: 28:37

I don't know why I'm so speechless. Ah, that basically describes how Philippine politics work.<laugh>,

Carmina: 28:46

Again, another topic for another episode.

Patch: 28:50

Yeah.

Carmina: 28:52

So Patch, I just wanted to mention a few things about people power that I found super interesting, now that I'm looking back at it with fresh eyes.

Patch: 28:59

Okay.

Carmina: 29:00

So you mentioned the Sea of yellow. How did the yellow ribbon become the symbol of people power?

Patch: 29:06

It was because of a song, right? Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree by Tony Orlando.

Carmina: 29:13

That was Ninoy's comeback song. He chose it because the song tells of a story of a released prisoner of war, who asked his wife and family to tie a yellow ribbon around their oak tree if they'd like to welcome him home. If he didn't see it, he would stay on the bus and not come home. But as the song tells us when he got home, he saw yellow ribbons all around the tree. And as a a sign of support for his homecoming, Ninoy's friends and family tied yellow ribbons around trees and fences along his route from the airport to his home in Pine Street in Quezon City. But he sadly never saw them. As we know. When he was assassinated, the Filipinos used the color yellow to symbolize resistance and rebellion. And Coey also made it her official campaign color.

Patch: 30:08

Right. The color became the symbol of her legacy.

Carmina: 30:11

And also during people power performers held many concerts. There were many iconic songs that came to symbolize People Power. The song Bayan Ko, meaning My Nation. Bayan Ko, was sang and recorded by Fredie Aguilar in 1978 as a protest song. But actually a certain general Jose Alejandrino originally composed this from a Spanish poem called Nuestra Patria, in 1898.

Patch: 30:44

What?

Carmina: 30:45

Yes, it was for A sarsuela, which was the popular form of place in the colonial period. It was translated to Tagalog by Jose Corazon De Jesus to the music of Constantio De Guzman in 1928 to protest the American occupation. Two months later, Handog Ng Pilipino Sa Mundo or in English, the Philippines Gift To The World was composed by Jim Paredes, a member of the popular band, Apo Hiking Society, who led the performances of the mini concerts during People Power.

Patch: 31:20

Okay. So in addition, Carmina, as you know, if you do the L sign, it's a symbol of loser.<laugh>

Carmina: 31:28

<laugh>. Yes.

Patch: 31:28

Right. But during that time, it stood for Laban, fight in English.

Carmina: 31:35

Mm-hmm.<affirmative>.

Patch: 31:36

And that was the political party that was formed by Ninoy Aquino when he was a senator. And Laban is an abbreviation of Lakas Ng Bayan or in English, People's Strength, or in other words, People's Power.

Carmina: 31:50

That gave me goosebumps. And I want to end by quoting Bob Simon an anchorman at CBS News. When he was reporting on People Power. He said,"we Americans like to think we taught the Filipinos democracy. Well tonight they are teaching the world."

Patch: 32:12

And that's our episode. We hope you join us on our next trip.

Carmina: 32:16

O siya, siya!

Patch: 32:18

Ingat! Thanks for listening to FilTrip with Carmina and Patch. Support FilTrip through Patreon or PayPal, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever all podcasts are downloaded.

Carmina: 32:37

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Patch: 32:46

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