People Power Timeline (The Marcos Years)

  • Marcos Elected As President

    Marcos Elected As President
    In December of 1965, Ferdinand Marcos was elected President of the Republic of the Philippines. Before becoming President, he served as both a Senator and Congressman.
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    Marcos' Years as President

  • Marcos Re-Elected to Second Term

    Marcos Re-Elected to Second Term
    In the November of 1969, Marcos was elected to a second term as President - the first and last in Philippine history to be reelected to a full one. However, clouds of corruption and vote buying surrounded his campaign.
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    First Quarter Storm

    After Marcos' reelection, student activists became much more active in protesting against the government, such as throwing rocks at him and the First Lady back then, Imelda Marcos, when they were going to the inauguration.
  • Battle of Mendiola

    Battle of Mendiola
    On January 30, 1970, students marched down Mendiola Street, protesting against Marcos. Managing to take over a firetruck, they then rammed the gates of Malacañang, while shots then rung out. In the end, four students were killed, and the battle lasted until dawn.
  • First Constitutional Convention Begins

    First Constitutional Convention Begins
    In the summer of 1971, Ferdinand Marcos held the First Constitutional Convention in atempt to transition the Philippine government from a Presidential one to a Parliamentary one, which would allow him to stay in power indefinitely as long as his party won elections. However, his new constitution was failed at the convention, primarily due to opposition from Senators Ninoy Aquino and Jose Diokno.
  • Bombing of Plaza Miranda

    Bombing of Plaza Miranda
    In 1971, the bombing of Plaza Miranda shook the nation, when a slate of Liberal Party candidates were killed during a bombing at a party rally.
  • Marcos Declares Martial Law

    Marcos Declares Martial Law
    A year after the bombing of Plaza Miranda, President Marcos declared martial law, citing national security as his most important reason for doing so.
  • Jose Diokno and Ninoy Aquino Arrested

    Jose Diokno and Ninoy Aquino Arrested
    Two prominent politicians and critics of Marcos' regime, Ninoy Aquino and Jose Diokno were arrested shortly after the declaration of Martial Law.
  • Marcos' New Constitution Ratified

    Marcos' New Constitution Ratified
    In 1973, through fraudulent questions and somewhat staged photos, Marcos' new Constitution was ratified, turning the Philippines into a parliamentary democracy, while still under Martial Law.
  • Founding of the LABAN Party

    In early 1978, Ninoy Aquino, while still in prison, helped to form the LABAN Party, the biggest opposition to the ruling KBL led by Marcos.
  • Noise Barrage

    Noise Barrage
    On the eve of the first elections held under Martial Law, protesters all throughout the country invented a new form of protest: the Noise Barrage. Creating as much noise as possible, protesters hoped to show that their voices would not be drowned out by corrupt elections.
  • Ninoy Aquino Suffers Heart Attack, Sent to US

    In the middle of March in 1980, Ninoy Aquino suffered a heart attack while in prison, and was rushed to the Philippine Heart Center. However, it turned that he would need triple-heart bypass surgery, and so he was sent to the US for surgery, per his request.
  • 1981 Elections Boycotted by Opposition

    In 1981, presidential elections were held once more, but the main opposition party UNIDO boycotted the elections, believing that the elections would be as fraudulent as they were in 1978.
  • Ninoy Aquino Assassinated

    Exiting his plane, Ninoy Aquino was shot dead in Manila International Airport, sparking protests.
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    Confetti Revolution

    After Ninoy Aquino's assassination, the Philippine business community as a whole became frustrated with Marcos' economic policy, after being previously neutral. At this time, many office employees began to dump large amounts of yellow confetti into Ayala Avenue, once the burgeoning hub of business, into the hub of reignited protests and opposition to Marcos.
  • Marcos Calls for Snap Elections

    On the 3rd of November in 1985, Ferdinand Marcos called for snap elections to prove his popularity with the increasingly angered Filipino people.
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    EDSA Uprising

    After Fidel Ramos and Juan Ponce Enrile announced their defection to the protesters along with 500 soldiers and barricaded themselves in Camp Crame, Cardinal Jaime Sin's call for additional help through Radio Veritas brought a wave of additional protesters onto EDSA, bringing about the EDSA People Power Revolution.
  • Marcos Family Flees Philippines

    In the night of February 25, 1986, Ferdinand Marcos and his family fled Malacanang Palace and took a U.S. Air Force plane to Guam, fleeing the Philippines.