February 22 in History
1986 - The People Power Revolution begins in the Philippines
A series of popular nonviolent demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, known as the People Power Revolution, the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, began on this day in 1986, leading the departure of Ferdinand Marcos, the end of his 20-year dictatorship and the restoration of democracy in the Philippines.
The revolution which lasted for four days is also referred to as the Yellow Revolution due to the presence of yellow ribbons during demonstrations as a symbol of protest following the assassination of Filipino senator Benigno ‘Ninoy’ Aquino, Jr. in August 1983 upon his return to the Philippines from exile. It was widely seen as a victory of the people against two decades of presidential rule by President Marcos, and made news headlines as “the revolution that surprised the world”.
The majority of the demonstrations took place on a long stretch of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, more commonly known by its acronym EDSA, in Metro Manila and involved over two million Filipino civilians, as well as several political and military groups, and religious groups led by Cardinal Jaime Sin, the Archbishop of Manila, along with Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines President Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, the Archbishop of Cebu.
The protests, fuelled by the resistance and opposition after years of governance by President Marcos and his cronies, ended with the ruler, his family, and some of their supporters fleeing to exile in Hawaii; and Ninoy Aquino’s widow, Corazon Aquino, inaugurated as the eleventh President of the Philippines.
-Wikipedia
Photo Caption – An iconic photo of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines in February 1986 showing hundreds of thousands of people filling up Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (EDSA) – Wikipedia
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