Photo: Presidential Museum and Library

It has been 39 years since the first Marcos administration was ousted from power via the world renowned bloodless revolution in 1986. 

From February 22 to 25, 1986, thousands of relentless Filipinos assembled in the 54-kilometer stretch of EDSA, armed with only prayers, rosaries and faith as they went against military tanks that ended the oppressive Marcos regime. 

It has been known in history as the EDSA People Power Revolution. 

Today, February 25, the country commemorates the movement that restored the country’s democracy.

Let us look back on the key personalities that shaped the EDSA revolution. 

1. Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. 

The husband of would-be President Corazon C. Aquino was no less Marcos’ fiercest rival who made waves criticizing the Marcos regime and its abuses. Because of his fight, he was imprisoned and exiled, but even then he remained steadfast in his beliefs. 

His aspirations to run for president were crushed when Marcos declared Martial Law on September 21, 1972. 

The morning after the declaration, Aquino, along with prominent members of the opposition were arrested and detained in Camp Crame and later in Fort Bonifacio. By 1980, his prison time ended when Marcos gave him permission to go to the US. There he continued the fight against Marcos and in 1983 decided to return to the Philippines. 

On August 21, 1983, Aquino was shot dead as he was alighting from his plane at the tarmac of the Manila International Airport. 

He may have died years before EDSA but it was his death that fueled the wrath of Filipinos to seize freedom back from the dictator. 

2. Corazon C. Aquino 

She was no less the most prominent figure during the EDSA revolution. 

When her husband was assassinated, house wife Corazon C. Aquino immediately emerged as the leader of the opposition and continued Ninoy’s fight. 

By 1985, Marcos was being pressured by critics as well as his US allies to call for snap elections.  On February 7, 1986, the elections were held with Cory as the opposition candidate for President and Salvador “Doy” Laurel as her Vice President. 

On February 15, Batasang Pambansa officially declared Marcos the winner of the snap elections despite allegations of widespread fraud. Aquino called for a rally disputing the results. 

On February 25, 1986, Cory took her oath as the 11th Philippine president before Supreme Court Senior Justice Claudio Teehankee at Club Filipino. She served until 1992. 

3. Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. 

Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., the country’s 10th president, was the longest serving head of state in Philippine history serving for over twenty years. 

He was first elected in 1965 and won his second term in 1969. But before his second term ended, Marcos declared Martial Law on September 21, 1972 beginning the 14-year brutal military rule in the country. 

People opposed his two-decade rule marred by thousands of human rights violations, torture, deaths and disappearances.

Marcos also took away billions of pesos from the Filipino people earning him the record of the “greatest robbery of a government” by the Guinness World Records. 

The Supreme Court has already ruled three times that the Marcos family committed huge scale fraud between 1965 and 1986 and has ordered them to return the money. 

The human rights violations and the massive robbery from the government prompted the Filipino people to rise up and evict the dictator through a bloodless revolution. 

After EDSA, the Marcos family was exiled to Hawaii. Marcos died in 1989. The remaining family members were allowed to return to the country to face various corruption cases. 

4. Imelda Marcos 

The flamboyant former First Lady was no less controversial. Imelda Marcoswas equally famous for ill-gotten wealth allegations and her lavish life fit for a royal. 

Imelda, who was reportedly then reluctant to leave the Palace due to disbelief in the situation,  also hurried away with her family as they were exiled in Hawaii. 

Many of her possessions were said to have been left in the Palace. She however tried to sneak in some of her things out of the country just like the Hawaii collection – the group of jewels seized by the US Bureau of Customs from the Marcoses when they went into exile. 

She also reportedly handed out payroll envelopes with P10,000 each to the remaining Palace personnel before they left.

5. Jaime Cardinal Sin

The Archbishop of Manila is considered to be the driving force of the revolution when he called out for Filipinos to rally along EDSA to defend the rebels led by then Defense minister Juan Ponce Enrile and then Armed Forces of the Philippines Vice Chief of Staff Fidel V. Ramos who were holed up in Camp Aguinaldo after withdrawing support from Marcos. 

From about 2,000 people at midnight of the first day, the crowd swelled to 100,000 by noon of the second day, all because of the cardinal’s call.

6. Juan Ponce Enrile

The now 101-year-old Chief Presidential Legal Counsel of the late strongman’s son and namesake was once the older Marcos’ defense secretary and the central figure in the coup attempt against the president. 

He, along with Marcos’ Armed Forces Vice Chief of Staff withdrew support from Marcos after the coup was discovered and joined in the revolution. 

7. Fidel Ramos

The former chief of the Philippine Constabulary withdrew support from Marcos and joined Enrile in the planned coup as leader of military and police operations. He later succeeded Cory as the 12th president of the Philippines. 

8. Fabian Ver

The Armed Forces Chief of Staff who is said to be most loyal to Marcos was General Fabian Ver. Upon learning of the coup attempt, Ver fortified the Palace to protect the first family. He and his family fled to Hawaii with the Marcoses on the evening of Feb. 25.

9. Eugenia Apostol

Eugenia Apostol was the founder of the Philippine Daily Inquirer and publisher of tabloid Mr. & Ms Special Editions, news outfits that were both critical to the Marcos government. 

On the first day of the EDSA revolt, Apostol was said to have received a call from Enrile’s wife Cristina informing her about her husband’s arrest. 

Apostol was said to have given instructions to colleagues Betty Go Belmonte and Lita Logarta to get in touch with the cardinal. She also informed former Inquirer editor-in-chief Louis Beltran about the incident leading to the paper’s publishing of the stories that unfolded on Feb. 23, 24 and 25 as they happened.