Middle force opposition to the Marcos dictatorship
In the Philippines during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, groups and individuals which opposed the regime without subscribing to leftist ideology were usually labeled with the terms "middle force," "third force," the "mainstream opposition," or more rarely, as the "conservative opposition." Mostly consisting of middle class and upper class groups which had been apolitical when Marcos first declared martial law,[1][2] the most prominent examples of oppositionists in this category include religious groups, business sector groups, professional groups, social democrats, academics, journalists, and artists. Politicians from the traditional opposition are also sometimes counted in this category, although the terms are traditionally associated with ground level opposition, rather than political opposition per se.[3][4][5]
Most of these groups rejected the use of armed force in their opposition to the Marcos regime, most prominently the religious and business sector groups, and the various academics, journalists, and artists who voiced opposition to the regime. But there were also a number of small groups who briefly took up arms against the regime without aligning themselves to the national democracy movement.[4]
These middle forces were mostly considered as having been "awakened" some years after Marcos' declaration of Martial Law, compared to the National Democracy movement and the Moro independence movements which were already organizing in the years before Martial Law.
These "middle forces" continued to gain momentum, culminating in a civil disobedience campaign after irregularities during the
Background
Martial Law under Ferdinand Marcos
Barred from running for a third term as president in 1973, Marcos announced Proclamation No. 1081 on September 23, 1972, declaring martial law,[6] using the civil unrest that arose after the 1969 Philippine balance of payments crisis as a justification for the proclamation.[7]
Through this decree and through a controversial referendum in which citizen assemblies voted through a show of hands, Marcos seized emergency powers giving him full control of the Philippines' military and the authority to suppress and abolish the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, and many other civil liberties.
President Marcos also dissolved the
A
With practically all of his political opponents arrested, out of office, and in exile, President Marcos's pre-emptive declaration of martial law in 1972 and the ratification of his new constitution by more than 95% of voters enabled Marcos to effectively legitimize his government and hold on to power for another 14 years beyond his first two terms as president. In a Cold War context, Marcos retained the support of the United States through Marcos's promise to stamp out communism in the Philippines and by assuring the United States of its continued use of military and naval bases in the Philippines.[7]
On November 27, 1977, a military tribunal sentenced Aquino and two co-accused, NPA leaders
Inciting incidents
1974 Sacred Heart Novitiate raid
The August 24, 1974
Marcos' forces raided the Jesuit Novitiate because they had mistakenly thought a communist leader was there to attend a meeting. But when the 150 soldiers who participated in the raid did not find the communist there, they arrested a priest, Rev. Jose Blanco, S.J., and claimed he was the "secretary general of an allegedly anti-government organization."[17] They also arrested the head of the Jesuit order in the Philippines, Benigno "Benny" Mayo, along with 21 leaders of a youth group who were attending a workshop at the seminary at the time.[17][18] Newly installed Archbishop Cardinal Jaime Sin's issued a pastoral letter protesting the raid, read aloud in all the churches of the Archdiocese of Manila. It was the first act of protest by Cardinal Sin, who would later be a key opposition figure against Marcos.[17]
Election Irregularities in the 1978 Philippine parliamentary election
A parliamentary election was held in the
Conceived by the regime in response to the
In anticipation of cheating, a noise barrage was organized by the supporters of (LABAN) on the night before the election on April 6, 1978.
Marcos said that fraud was committed by "both sides" during the elections, but not on a scale that would have affected the results.[19] Jovito Salonga disagreed with the assessment and said that he did not observe people celebrating KBL's victory because they felt "like they’ve been cheated."[19]
The Macliing Dulag assassination
Coverage of Kalinga tribal leader
1981-1986 Economic Nosedive
The Philippine economic nosedive of the 1980s traces its roots to debt-driven growth, mostly during Marcos' second term and during the earliest years of martial law.[25] By 1982, the Philippines’ debt was at $24.4 billion,[25] but it had not seen much in terms of returns because of corruption and the poor management of the crony-monopolized sectors of the economy.[26] In the third quarter of 1981, disaster for the Philippines came when the US economy went into recession, forcing the Reagan administration to increase interest rates.[25] "Third world" countries like the Philippines and many of the nations of Latin America were highly debt dependent, and the size of their debt made debt servicing very difficult.[25] The Philippines’ exports could not keep up with the country's debt, and the economy went into decline in 1981.[25]
This economic decline and a succession crisis brought about by Marcos' failing health convinced Marcos' political nemesis,
1984 and 1985 saw the worst recession in Philippine history, with the economy contracting by 7.3% for two successive years.[25] Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority for 1985 showed that poverty incidence in families was at 44.2%—4.3 percentage points higher than in 1991 during the presidency of Corazon Aquino.[27]
With Marcos' health going into steady decline, he gradually lost the support of his cabinet, of the Military, and by some of his closest allies. He was finally ousted by the People Power Revolution that culminated from 22 to 25 February 1986.[28]
Crony capitalism and unexplained wealth
The economic roller coaster of the late 1970s and the economic nosedive of the early 1980s also led to public discontent relating to the influence of
The Philippine think tank the
The data gathered by the CRC would later be used by US Ambassador to the Philippines Stephen Bosworth to inform his 1985 report to the United States Congress House Committee on Foreign Affairs on the rapid decline of the Philippine economy in the early 1980s.[34][35]: 634–635
The Ninoy Aquino assassination
On Sunday, August 21, 1983, opposition leader and former
Aftermath of the Aquino assassination
While the Sacred Heart novitiate raid, the Macli-ing Dulag assassination, and the controversial 1978 and 1981 elections are recognized for being inciting incidents for the early dissent against Marcos from the ranks of the upper and middle class, it was the Ninoy Aquino assassination which is acknowledged for convincing the mainstream of Filipino society to speak against Marcos.[38] Historian Maria Serena Diokno notes:
"It was the Aquino assassination, more than any other event in the Marcos regime's long history of repression and violence, which moved countless Filipinos, especially the once timid middle class, to awaken and jointly fight the reality of dictatorship. For many years, it was, in the words of a Makati Businessman, "... the spark that gave us the courage to speak up." Indeed, from that shocking moment on the tarmac in August 1983 until the EDSA revolution in February 1986, numerous organizations emerged to protest the iron strength of the Marcos dictatorship."[38]
Aquino funeral procession
Philippine mainstream society, which had largely been unable to protest under Martial Law, erupted into protests after the Aquino assassination, beginning with Aquino's funeral procession in Manila. Following a 9:00 AM
Constant rallies
After the assassination, protest rallies against the Marcos regime became an almost weekly occurrence.[40] Historian Mark Thompson notes that according to government estimates of protests in the wake of Aquino's murder:
“165 rallies, marches, and other demonstrations took place between August 21 and September 30, 1983... Protest demonstrations continued into the following year, with more than 100 held between October 1983 and February 1984.[40]"
This ran across all of the Philippines' socioeconomic strata, but a noticeable presence was the Philippines middle-class and sympathetic elite, which had previously avoided such protests. Ayala Avenue and the area now known as the Makati Central Business District became a common venue for such protests with protestors bringing festival drums to bring a musical element to the protests, and office workers from the buildings above showering the protesters with Yellow Confetti - the color which had become associated with Ninoy Aquino.[40]
1984 Welcome Rotonda protest dispersal
One of the most notable of the many rallies that took place between the August 21 assassination of Ninoy Aquino was the
They also fired into the crowd, which included 80-year-old former Senator
Images of the event showing the two seniors struggling against the waterhosing and teargas unleashed by the pro-Marcos forces were published in Mosquito press publications such as Malaya and WE Forum. These quickly became iconic, and led to a further decline in support for the already unpopular Ferdinand Marcos.[45]
Role in the People Power Revolution
The "middle forces" of opposition to Marcos played a prominent part in the People Power Revolution which finally ousted Marcos, heightened by the fact that the organizations associated with the organized left had decided to boycott the 1986 Snap elections, while the rightwing forces of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement's main contribution had been its failed coup and later pleas for help. At the same time, the various religious, business sector, professional, and social democrat groups which were angered by revelations of cheating during the elections were already organizing themselves to stage massive protests in the weeks before the revolution was sparked.[1][4]
Civil disobedience campaign
The first major post-election demonstration of these middle forces was Aquino's "Tagumpay ng Bayan" (People's Victory) rally at Luneta Park on February 16, 1986, in which she invited a crowd of about two million people to participate in a civil disobedience campaign and a boycott of publications and companies which were associated with Marcos or any of his cronies.[46][47] A week later when the revolution began in earnest, Aquino had been at a similar rally in Cebu when she learned about the events taking place at EDSA.[48]
Protecting Aguinaldo and Crame
By the time Juan Ponce Enrile and the Reform the Armed Forces Movement decided to launch their coup plot in February 1986, the various religious, business sector, professional, and social democrat groups which were angered by revelations of cheating during the elections were already organizing themselves to stage massive protests. Corazon Aquino had already had a major rally in Luneta on February 16, and was in Cebu to drum up further support. So when the Enrile coup plot failed, the middle forces were already organized and ready to launch large demonstrations. Ninoy Aquino's brother Butz Aquino, along with some members of the August Twenty One Movement were early participants in the effort to keep Marcos from wiping out the RAM forces in Camp Aguinaldo and the forces of Fidel Ramos in Camp Crame which had rallied to support the RAM rebels. This was further enhanced when Cardinal Jaime Sin went on air on Radio Veritas to ask people to come to the stretch of EDSA between the camps, forming a human barricade to keep Marcos' loyalist troops from firing their weapons.[1][4] Enrile famously noted that while the military was supposed to be the protectors of the people, the people had suddenly come out in opposition to Marcos, as protectors of their soldiers.[49]
Establishing a civilian victory
The dominance of this middle force was made even more evident when Juan Ponce Enrile sought to solidify the RAM's claim on credit for the events of EDSA, by inviting Aquino to be inaugurated at Camp Crame. Aquino adamantly refused, emphasizing that the People Power Revolution was a civilian victory, not by a rebel military faction.[49] Aquino held her inauguration on February 25, 1986, at Club Filipino instead, with Enrile and Ramos invited only as guests.[49]
Notable figures and organizations
- Jaime Sin
- Mary Christine Tan
- Macli-ing Dulag
- Jovito Salonga
- Raul Manglapus
- Lorenzo Tañada
- Jose W. Diokno
- Chino Roces
- Gaston Z. Ortigas
- Cesar Climaco
- Bonifacio Gillego
- Butz Aquino
- Geny Lopez
- Alfonso Yuchengco
- Joe Burgos
- Eugenia Apostol
- Letty Jimenez Magsanoc
- Betty Go-Belmonte
- David Bueno
- James Reuter
- June Keithley
- Isabelo Magalit
- Melba Padilla Maggay
- Gilda Cordero Fernando
- APO Hiking Society
- Radio Veritas
- WE Forum
- Ang Pahayagang Malaya
- Makati Business Club
- Center for Research and Communication
- Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines
- Task Force Detainees of the Philippines
See also
- Bantayog ng mga Bayani
- Rightwing opposition to the Marcos dictatorship
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