24 years ago: Marcos’ departure

February 25, 1986. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos talked to US Senator Paul Laxalt, asking for advice from the White House. Laxalt advised him to “cut and cut cleanly”, to which Marcos expressed his disappointment after a short pause.

In the afternoon, Marcos talked to then Defence Secretary Enrile, asking for safe passage for him and his family. Finally, at 21:00, the Marcoses were transported by four American helicopters to Clark Air Base in Pampanga, before heading on to Guam, and finally to Hawaii.

When the news of Marcos’s departure reached the people, many rejoiced and danced. Over at Mendiola, the demonstrators were finally able to enter Malacañang Palace and stole many items, long denied to some Filipinos in the past 2 decades. Looting by overly angry protesters occurred, but mostly people wandered inside, looking at the place where all the decisions that changed the course of Philippine history had been made.

All over the world, people rejoiced and congratulated Filipinos they knew. Bob Simon, an anchorman at Columbia Broadcasting System said, “We Americans like to think we taught the Filipinos democracy; well, tonight they are teaching the world.”

The inaugurations

On the morning of February 25, Tuesday, at around 7 a.m., a minor clash occurred between loyal government troops and the
Reformists. Snipers stationed atop the government-owned Channel 9 tower, near Channel 4, began shooting at the reformists. Many rebel soldiers surged to the station.

Later in the morning, Cory Aquino was inaugurated as President of the Philippines in a simple ceremony at Club Filipino in Greenhills, about a kilometer from Camp Crame. She was sworn in as President by Senior Associate Justice Claudio Teehankee, and Laurel as Vice-President by Justice Vicente Abad Santos. The bible on which Aquino swore her oath was held by Aurora Aquino, the mother of Ninoy Aquino.

Attending the ceremonies were Fidel Ramos, who was then promoted to General, Juan Ponce Enrile, and many politicians. Outside Club Filipino, all the way to EDSA, hundreds of people cheered and celebrated. Bayan Ko (My Country, a popular folk song and the unofficial national anthem) was sung after Aquino’s oath-taking. Many people wore yellow, the color of Aquino’s campaign for presidency.

An hour later, Marcos conducted the inauguration at Malacañang. Millions of loyalist civilians attended the ceremony, shouting “Marcos, Marcos, Marcos pa rin! (Marcos, Marcos, still Marcos !)”.

On the Malacañang Palace balcony, Marcos took his oath as the President of the Philippines, broadcast by the remaining government television channels and Channel 7. None of the invited foreign dignitaries attended the ceremony for security reason (although Moscow sent a congratulatory message).

First Lady Imelda Marcos sang one more rendition of “Dahil Sa Iyo” (Because of You), the couple’s theme song, rather tearfully. To the many Marcos loyalists and to the majority of the Filipino people, they would always be the First Couple. After the inauguration, the Marcos family and their close associates hurriedly rushed to leave the Palace. The broadcast of the event was also cut off as rebel troops successfully captured the other stations.

By then, thousands of people had amassed at the barricades along Mendiola, only a hundred meters away from Malacañang Palace. They were prevented from storming the Palace by loyal government troops securing the area. The angry demonstrators were pacified by priests who warned them not to be violent.

Updated: 2010-02-10 — 19:39:11