The EDSA Revolt 25 years later! Part 1

This week the nation would be commemorating the 25th anniversary of the EDSA Revolt and today is exactly the 2nd day, when then Gen. Fidel V. Ramos and Defense Sec. Juan Ponce Enrile banded together to declare their revolt against the conjugal Marcos dictatorship. I have a lot of books on the EDSA Revolt, but perhaps the most detailed was written by the late Sandra Burton of Time Magazine who came up with her book entitled “Impossible Dream: The Marcoses, the Aquinos and the Unfinished Revolution.” This book has a sentimental value for me as it was given by Sir Max Soliven when he got the first edition in Hong Kong and gave one to me.

While we cannot print all that is written in this book, we’ll just mention the timeline and the players. By Saturday, Feb. 22nd, Pres. Ferdinand Marcos came on TV for a news conference exposing the plot of Enrile and Ramos, presenting four captured military plotters. It was undoubtedly a very tense moment where everyone expected things to explode the following day.

Exactly 25 years ago, it was a Sunday when Enrile and 320 of his men crossed EDSA to consolidate his forces with the 450 men under Gen. Ramos in the better-defended Camp Crame. This is one historic crossing in Philippine history akin to the crossing of the Delaware River by then Gen. George Washington. By then Jaime Cardinal Sin (who came on radio Veritas the day before) repeated his call asking the Filipino people to support the Enrile and Ramos alliance against Marcos. This call was also echoed by Butz Aquino and by Sunday afternoon, EDSA ceased to become a highway.

As Sandra Burton wrote, “One look at the sight of the four-lane highway, transformed by the crowd into a stage for a political-spiritual happening, and the most wary citizen felt this was where he belonged. It was a typically Filipino mixture of the sacred and the profane. A statue of the Virgin Mary stood on a pedestal above the entrance to Camp Crame…. The predominance of yellow in the crowd was clear evidence that the people perceived the reformist forces as supporting Cory. But their primary role at EDSA, the highway separating Camp Aquinaldo from Camp Crame was to feed and protect the soldiers.” This was also the first public appearance of a certain Col. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, who would someday figure in future coups against Cory that launched his Senatorial career.

That Sunday, I was with then Vice-Presidential candidate Salvador “Doy” Laurel on stage at the Fuente Osmeña with Tita Cory Aquino for an anti-Marcos rally, listening to the speakers, while our other ear was glued to the portable radio listening to the events unfolding in Manila. It was then that Tita Cory went to the Carmelite Convent for her safety and security.

Meanwhile my good friend Col. Tiburcio “Fusi” Fusilero (he retired a General) was sent by Col. Gringo to alert all the military forces in Mindanao where he took a privately owned Bonanza aircraft, flying from Cebu to Cagayan de Oro, Davao and Butuan to talk to the Commanders on the field. Some military officers decided not to side with anyone, while others were very supportive of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM).

While Col. Fusi was able to gather two Armored Personnel Vehicle (APV) and four V-150 Commando Vehicles from Butuan City supposedly to be loaded on a C-130, however the C-130 never came and the armored vehicles were loaded on a boat. But the ship didn’t leave port. So Col. Fusilero flew to Manila, but was unable to land at the Manila International Airport, so he landed in Zambales and motored to EDSA to join the RAM boys.

By then the tanks of Marine Commandant Brig. General Artemio Tadiar came into view from Camp Crame and Enrile frantically called up US Ambassador Stephen Bosworth to tell him that there were many foreign journalists inside Camp Crame. Apparently the United States military had a plan to evacuate all the rebel soldiers, including the journalists by helicopter from Camp Crame if things got worse.

All the while Pres. Marcos had been trying to contact Sec. Enrile who refused to talk to Marcos. With the tanks in full view from the top floor of the PC headquarters, Enrile was persuaded to call Pres. Marcos and asked the President to withdraw the tanks of Gen. Tadiar. Marcos was obviously seeking a peaceful settlement of this situation without resulting to bloodshed. But both stalled for time, with Pres. Marcos assuring Enrile that the tanks won’t fire at him, but he won’t stop them from moving into position. It was then that the multitude of people blocked Tadiar’s tanks, with rosaries on hand, prayed that the soldiers won’t run over them and the tanks were stopped by People’s Power. More on EDSA on Friday’s column.

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