People Power Revolution

One significant event that happened in Philippines was the People Power Revolution which occured during the period when Ferdinand Marcos was in power. This period was also known as EDSA Revolution/Philippine Revolution of 1986/Yellow Revolution. Ferdinand Marcos set up a regime in the Philippines that would give him ultimate power over the military and the national treasury. Following the declaration of martial law on 21 Sept 1972, Marcos began money embezzlement and gave out orders to kill any political competition that was against him. Not long after, Philippines economy crumbled and lost its competitive edge in Southeast Asia. Several groups of people within the government conspired to overthrow Marcos. They were led by opposition senator Ninoy Aquino, who was later sent to exile and warned not to return to Philippines. Ignoring warnings from pro-Marcos groups not to return, Ninoy Aquino returned three years later but was assassinated on his way back. This led to many Filipinos to lose faith in the Marcos regime and caused the economic problems in Philippines to worsen.

In the 1986 elections, Ninoy Aquino's wife Corazon Aquino ran for residency with Marcos. However, there were two different sets of election results, one showing Marcos winning 53% of the votes and another with Corazon Aquino winning 52%. Both parties took their oath of office in two different places with Aquino gaining greater supporter from the masses. Events of the People Power Revolution started when two key leaders of the military - Fidel Ramos and Juan Poonce Enrile - withdrew their support for Marcos and supported Aquino instead. At that time, Radio Veritas was used as an important form of communication between the military and the masses as it was the only non government controlled radio station. Everywhere, people were listening to Radio Veritas and several sang Bayan Ko (My Homeland), which has since become the anthem of protest movements in the Philippines.