People Power Revolution

In February 1986 millions of Filipinos massed on the EDSA highway in Manila and nonviolently toppled the Marcos dictatorship.

Overview

The fraudulent snap election of February 1986 and the defection of defense minister Juan Ponce Enrile and general Fidel Ramos triggered the crisis. Cardinal Sin called the faithful to protect the defectors, and hundreds of thousands formed human barriers between tanks and rebel camps, armed with rosaries, flowers, and food for the soldiers. Helicopter pilots refused orders to fire. On 25 February Corazon Aquino took the presidential oath as Ferdinand Marcos, abandoned by the army command and Washington, fled to Hawaii. People power restored electoral democracy and inspired nonviolent movements worldwide, though oligarchic inequality persisted and the Marcos family later returned to national politics, winning the vice presidency in 2016 and presidency in 2022.