Second EDSA Revolution

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Second EDSA Revolution
EDSA II
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo taking her oath as the 14th President of the Philippines.
DateJanuary 17–20, 2001
(3 days)
Location
Caused byBreakdown in negotiations during the impeachment trial of President Joseph Estrada that began in December 2000
GoalsRemoval of Joseph Estrada as President
MethodsProtests
Resulted inOpposition victory
Parties

Opposition
Military defectors:[1]

Others:

  • Anti-Estrada civilian protesters

Religious groups:[1]

Militant groups:[1]

Individual groups:

Lead figures
Number
100,000[2] to 250,000[3] protesters

The Second EDSA Revolution, also known as the Second People Power Revolution, EDSA 2001, or EDSA II (pronounced EDSA Two or EDSA Dos), was a political protest from January 17–20, 2001 which peacefully overthrew the government of

Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.
several hours earlier.

Name

EDSA is an

Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, the major thoroughfare connecting six cities in Metro Manila, namely Pasay, Makati, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Quezon City and Caloocan. The revolution's epicenter was the EDSA Shrine church at the northern tip of the Ortigas Center
business district.

Background

On October 4, 2000,

Luis "Chavit" Singson, a longtime friend of President Joseph Estrada, went public with accusations that Estrada and his friends and family had received millions of pesos from operations of jueteng, a numbers game which is illegal in the Philippines.[4]

The exposé immediately ignited reactions of rage. The next day,

Ateneo de Naga president Joel Tabora who demanded the resignation of President Estrada.[9]

More calls for resignation came from

Fidel Ramos, and Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (who had resigned her cabinet position of Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development). Cardinal Sin's statement read, "In the light of the scandals that besmirched the image of presidency, in the last two years, we stand by our conviction that he has lost the moral authority to govern."[10] More resignations came from Estrada's cabinet and economic advisers, and other members of congress defected from his ruling party.[4]

On November 13, 2000, the House of Representatives led by Speaker

Hilario Davide, Jr. presiding. The trial began on December 7.[4]

The day-to-day trial was covered on live television and received the highest viewing rating, mostly by the broadcasting giant ABS-CBN at the time.[4] Among the highlights of the trial was the testimony of Clarissa Ocampo, senior vice president of Equitable PCI Bank, who testified that she was one foot away from Estrada when he signed the name "Jose Velarde" on documents involving a ₱500 million investment agreement with their bank in February 2000.[4]

Timeline

Impeachment trial

On January 16, 2001, the

prosecution became deeper, but then-Senate Majority Floor Leader Francisco Tatad
requested that the impeachment court have a vote on opening the second envelope. The vote resulted in 10 senators in favor of examining the evidence, and 11 senators in favor of suppressing it. The list of senators who voted for the second envelope are as follows:

Voted to examine

  1. Rodolfo Biazon
  2. Renato Cayetano
  3. Franklin Drilon
  4. Juan Flavier
  5. Teofisto Guingona Jr.
  6. Loren Legarda
  7. Ramon Magsaysay Jr.
  8. Sergio Osmeña III
  9. Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
  10. Raul Roco

Voted against examining

  1. Tessie Aquino-Oreta
  2. Nikki Coseteng
  3. Miriam Defensor Santiago
  4. Juan Ponce Enrile
  5. Gringo Honasan
  6. Robert Jaworski
  7. Blas Ople
  8. John Henry Osmeña
  9. Ramon Revilla Sr.
  10. Tito Sotto
  11. Francisco Tatad

After the vote, Senator

mnemonic device for remembering their names (Joe's Cohorts: Jaworski, Oreta, Enrile, Santiago, Coseteng, Osmeña, Honasan, Ople, Revilla, Tatad, Sotto).[11] On February 14, 2001, at the initiative of Pimentel, the second envelope was opened before the local and foreign media. It contained the document that stated that businessman Jaime Dichaves and not Estrada owned the "Jose Velarde" account.[12][13]
'

Day 1: January 17, 2001

Senator

EDSA Shrine
, and she became the most vilified of the 11 senators. She was labeled a "prostitute" and a "concubine" of Estrada for her dancing act, while Senator Defensor-Santiago was also ridiculed by the crowd who branded her a "lunatic".

As he did in the EDSA I protests, Cardinal Jaime Sin called on the people to join the rally at the shrine. During the night, people began to gather in large numbers around the shrine.

Day 2: January 18, 2001

The crowd continued to grow, bolstered by students from private schools and left-wing organizations. Activists from Bayan Muna and Akbayan as well as lawyers of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and other bar associations joined the thousands of protesters. A similar parallel anti-Estrada rally was held in Makati, and at the shrine area, just as in 1986, stars and icons from the music industry entertained the vast crowds.

Day 3: January 19, 2001

The Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines withdrew their support for Estrada, joining the crowds at the EDSA Shrine.[3]

At 2:00 PM, Joseph Estrada appeared on television for the first time since the beginning of the protests and maintained that he would not resign. He said he wanted the impeachment trial to continue, stressing that only a guilty verdict would remove him from office.

At 6:15 PM, Estrada again appeared on television, calling for a snap presidential election to be held concurrently with congressional and local elections on May 14, 2001. He added that he would not run in this election.

Day 4: January 20, 2001

At 12:30 in the afternoon, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took her oath of office as president before Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. in the presence of the crowd at EDSA.[16] At the same time, however, a large anti-Estrada crowd had already gathered at the historic Mendiola Bridge, having left the shrine earlier in the day, only to face PNP personnel and the pro-Estrada supporters behind them, who had by now already attacked both the police and the anti-Estrada protesters and heckling them and even members of the press.

At 2:00 PM, Estrada released a letter saying he had "strong and serious doubts about the legality and constitutionality of her proclamation as president".[17] In that same letter, however, he said he would give up his office to allow for national reconciliation.

Later, Estrada and his family evacuated Malacañang Palace on a boat along the Pasig River. They were smiling and waving to reporters and shaking hands with the remaining Cabinet members and palace employees. He was initially placed under house arrest in San Juan, but was later transferred to his rest home in Sampaloc, a small village in Tanay, Rizal.

Aftermath

On the last day of protests on EDSA on January 20, 2001, Estrada resigned as president and his successor Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was sworn into office by Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide Jr.[18][19]

On March 2, 2001, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Estrada's resignation in a unanimous 13-0 decision in Estrada vs. Desierto.[20]

On September 12, 2007, Estrada was found guilty of plunder beyond reasonable doubt by the Philippine anti-graft court and sentenced to life imprisonment.[21][22][8] He was pardoned by Macapagal-Arroyo on October 25, 2007.[23][21]

Reactions

International

International reaction to the administration change was mixed. While some foreign nations, including the United States, immediately recognized the legitimacy of Arroyo's presidency, foreign commentators described the revolt as "a defeat for

mob rule or mob rule as a cover for a well-planned coup, but either way, it's not democracy."[24]

Domestic

Opinion was divided during EDSA II about whether Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as the incumbent vice president should be president if Joseph Estrada was ousted; many groups who participated in EDSA II expressly stated that they did not want Arroyo for president either, and some of these groups would later participate in EDSA III. The prevailing Constitution of the Philippines calls for the Vice President of the Philippines, Arroyo at the time, to act as interim president only when the sitting president dies, resigns, or becomes incapacitated. Estrada had resigned from office and the constitutionality of his resignation was upheld by the Supreme Court on March 2, 2001.[20]

After Estrada's plunder conviction and subsequent pardon, on January 18, 2008, Estrada's

1987 Constitution.[26]

In February 2008 several parts of the Catholic Church which played a vital role during EDSA II issued an apology of sorts. The sitting Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president, Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, expressed disappointment in Arroyo's presidency and called EDSA II a mistake.[27]

By Estrada

On March 13, 2008, Estrada named

Fidel Ramos, Chavit Singson, and the Ayala and Lopez clans (who were both involved in water businesses) as co-conspirators of the EDSA Revolution of 2001.[28]

In October 2016, Estrada claimed without evidence that it was the U.S. that ousted him from office.[29]

See also

References

  1. ^ .
  2. ^ a b "Estrada: A Tarnished Legacy". The Wall Street Journal. January 22, 2001.
  3. ^ a b "Filipinos rally to oust the president". The Guardian. January 19, 2001.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Estrada vs Desierto: 146710-15 : March 2, 2001 : J. Puno : En Banc". Supreme Court of the Philippines. March 2, 2001. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Fast Facts: Estrada Impeachment Trial". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  6. ^ Rufo, Aries (October 31, 2001). "Everyone's Cash Cow". Newsbreak. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  7. ^ Danao, Efren (February 22, 2001). "Probe of Estrada to continue". The Philippine Star. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  8. ^ a b Sturcke, James (September 12, 2007). "Estrada given life sentence for corruption". the Guardian. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  9. ^ Olivares-Cunanan, Belinda (February 22, 2001). "How could it have been 'mob rule'?". Philippine Daily Inquirer. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc. p. A9. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  10. ^ Amando Doronila, The Fall of Joseph Estrada, 2001, p. 83
  11. ^ Armageddon Averted: People Power 2001 (January 2001), Asian Business Strategy and Street Intelligence Ezine.
  12. ^ "Dichavez owned bank account, says Pimentel". Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. May 31, 2005.
  13. ^ "Erap Plunder Trial - BIR wants Erap to pay P2.9B tax; Estrada cries harassment". GMA News. October 16, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  14. ^ "Paano nagsimula ang EDSA Dos noong Enero 2001". DZMM TeleRadyo. Facebook. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  15. ^ "Tessie learns her lesson: Act senatorial at all times". www.philstar.com. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  16. ^ "Estrada to stand trial for plunder". The Guardian. January 20, 2001.
  17. .
  18. ^ Panganiban, Artemio V. (January 24, 2016). "SC: Arroyo takeover constitutional". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  19. ^ Diaz, Jess (January 27, 2015). "Erap resigned as president, can't run again — lawyer". The Philippine Star. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  20. ^ a b Panganiban, Artemio V. (January 17, 2016). "Constitutionality of Edsa 1 and Edsa 2". Inquirer. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  21. ^ a b Rodis, Rodel (August 28, 2013). "Estrada's plunder conviction remembered". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  22. ^ "Erap guilty of plunder, sentenced to reclusion perpetua". GMA News. September 12, 2007. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  23. ^ Mogato, Manny (October 25, 2007). "Former Philippine president Estrada pardoned". Reuters. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  24. ^ a b Mydans, Seth. 'People Power II' Doesn't Give Filipinos the Same Glow. February 5, 2001. The New York Times.
  25. ^ "SC: People's welfare is the supreme law". The Philippine Star. January 21, 2001. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
  26. ^ "GMA NEWS.TV, Erap's PMP questions EDSA 2 constitutionality". GMA News. January 18, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  27. ^ Ayen Infante (February 20, 2008). "Edsa II a mistake, says CBCP head". The Daily Tribune. Philippines. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
  28. ^ "GMA NEWS.TV, 7 years after ouster, Erap bares 5 conspirators". GMA News. March 12, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
  29. ^ "Manila Standard, Duterte is right, Estrada insists".

Further reading

External links