SPEECH OF CORAZON C.

AQUINO
BEFORE U.S CONGRESS
BACKGROUND
OF THE EVENT
MARTIAL LAW
Declared through P.D. 1081 on September 1972.
President Marcos proclaimed Martial Law due to
increasing violent student demonstrations, the threat
of Communist insurgents and Muslim (MNLF)
seperatists. This period was characterized with
numerous problems like violation to human rights.
According to Amnesty International, some 70,000
people were imprisoned, 34,000 were tortured and
over 3,200 people were killed during the Martial Law
(1972-1981).
 Happened from February 22-25, 1986,
millions of people from different
backgrounds marched out not just in Metro
PEOPLE POWER Manila, especially in EDSA, but across
different places of the country have

REVOLUTION (EDSA demonstrated along their main highways

and avenues to protest the alleged fraud
during the February 1986 Snap Elections,
1) abuse of power, and the assassination of
opposition Senator Ninoy Aquino. This
revolution resulted in the removal of
President Marcos Sr. in power, placement
of Corazon Aquino as the new President,
and the restoration of democracy.
 BIOGRAPHY
OF THE
PEOPLE INVOLVED
CORAZON C.
AQUINO Name: Maria Corazon Aquino

Birthday: January 25, 1933

Position or Occupation: Philippine political

leader who served as the first female president
(1986–92) of the Philippines

Role in EDSA Revolution: As the wife of the

late opposition Senator Ninoy Aquino, she became
the opposition candidate to contend with
President Marcos Sr. And as a president, Aquino
oversaw the drafting of the 1987 Constitution,
which limited the powers of the presidency and
re-established the bicameral Congress,
successfully removing the previous dictatorial
government structure.
benigno s.
aquino jr. Name: Benigno “Ninoy” Simeon Aquino Jr.

Birthday: November 27, 1932

Position or Occupation: Was a Filipino politician

who served as a senator of the Philippines (1967–
1972) and governor of the province of Tarlac.

Role in EDSA Revolution: The chief opposition

leader during the era of martial law in the
Philippines (1972–81) under Pres. Ferdinand E.
Marcos. Aquino’s assassination in 1983 galvanized
popular opposition to the Marcos government and
brought his widow, Corazon Aquino, to the
political forefront.
FERDINAND
MARCOS sr.
Name: Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr.

Birthday: September 11, 1917

Position or Occupation: 10th President of the

Philippines (1965-1986)

Role in EDSA Revolution: The current

president and opposition of Corazon Aquino.
During those momentous four days of February
1986, millions of Filipinos, along Epifanio de los
Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Metro Manila, and in
cities all over the country, showed exemplary
courage and stood against, and peacefully
overthrew, the dictatorial regime of President
Ferdinand E. Marcos.
juan ponce
enrile
Name: Juan Valentin Furagganan Ponce Enrile Sr.

Birthday: February 14, 1924

Position or Occupation: Lawyer and Politician; served in

various government position during the Marcos and Aquino
administration. Became a member of the House of
Representatives (1992-1995) and the Senate (1987-1992;
1995-2001; 2004-2016). Served as the 21st President of
the Senate of the Philippines (2008-2013). And currently
the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel of Pres. Marcos Jr.

Role in EDSA Revolution: Supported Corazon Aquino's

civil disobedience campaign due to the fraudulent results of
the February 7, 1986 elections. Asked the support of then
Lt. Col. Fidel Ramos and Jaime Cardinal Sin during the
early days of the People Power Revolution.
FIDEL V.
RAMOS Name: Fidel Valdez Ramos, popularly known
as FVR and Eddie Ramos.

Birthday: March 18, 1928

Position or Occupation: He was a Filipino general

and politician who served as the 12th president of the
Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career
military officer who reached the rank of five-star
general/admiral de jure.

Role in EDSA Revolution: He turned out to be a

great president, worthy of the office. He changed the
country for the better: dismantled monopolies, forged
peace with the Moro National Liberation Front,
repealed the anti-subversion law. But it is as a hero of
the EDSA People Power Revolution and as a defender
of democracy that he belongs, rightly, to history.
jaime cardinal sin
Name: Jaime Lachica Sin commonly and formally
known as Jaime Cardinal Sin

Birthday: August 31, 1928

Position or Occupation: The powerful Roman

Catholic archbishop of Manila

Role in EDSA Revolution: Exactly three days

before the EDSA People Power Revolution
culminated on February 25, 1986, then-Manila
Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin appealed to
Filipinos to go to the vicinity of the national
military heaquarters along Epifanio delos Santos
Avenue, to support two senior officials who had
just withdrawn support for dictator Ferdinand
Marcos.
CONTENTS OF
THE SPEECH
 i. DEMOCRACY IN DANGER

II. THE 1986 SNAP ELECTIONS

iii.THE BLOODLESS REVOLUTION
iv. CHALLENGES OF THE NEW ADMINISTRATION
 THE COMMUNIST INSURGENTS and MORO
SEPERATISTS
 THE $26 BILLION DEBT

v. building a new home for democracy

 i. DEMOCRACY IN DANGER

Due to the announcement of Martial Law, various

democratic rights of the people are suspended:
•Writ of Habeas Corpus - right of the Court to demand that
a person (accused) be presented at a certain time and place
to determine if the person's custody is legal or not.

•Freedom of Speech - right to express opinions without

restraint or censorship.

•Freedom of the press - the right to publish content that is

deemed legal without interference of the government.
 ii. THE 1986 SNAP ELECTIONS

The Snap Election of 1986 is a momentous event in

history because it is the election wherein the results
differed.One from COMELEC tally proclaimed
Marcos Sr. as the winner and one from NAMFREL
tally proclaimed Aquino as the winner. The allegations
of fraud during the election period resulted in the calls
of the Church for the people to take action in this
manner. The events that followed, paved the way to the
People Power Revolution.
 iii. THE BLOODLESS REVOLUTION
Millions of Filipinos from all walks of life marched along
Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), Metro Manila's
main artery, to end President Ferdinand E. Marcos'
dictatorship and usher in a new era of true freedom and
democracy. This spirit of the movement was not limited to
Manila; it was manifested through nonviolent President Corazon Aquino took office in 1986,
after Ferdinand Marcos was removed from the
demonstrations staged in various cities across the country—
presidency. She was the President of the
it was a peaceful revolution led by a nation united to
Philippines from 1986 to 1992. Aquino restored
reclaim liberty. That's why its called The Bloodless
democracy as president by abolishing the
Revolution. legislature, declaring a revolutionary
government, and appointing a fifty-member
The events of February 25, 1986, altered the course of our commission to write a new constitution, which
nation's history; they demonstrated to the world the was approved in 1987. She oversaw the re-
remarkable resolve of the Filipino people. It heralded a new introduction of local elections in 1988 and the
era of peace. We have kept remembering over the years. first presidential election in 1992.
iv. CHALLENGES OF THE NEW ADMINISTRATION
THE COMMUNIST INSURGENTS

• The communist insurgency and the economic

deterioration is one of the challenges she faced as they
tried to rebuild the democracy

• Communist Insurgency had grown throughout the

Marco's era to more than 500-16,000 guerillas
• The Aspiration of the people is the abstraction of
Democracy

• Cory asked the US congress, Filipinos want democracy

by themselves and need only to preserve it
 iV. CHALLENGES OF THE NEW ADMINISTRATION

THE $26 BILLION DEBT

When marcos became president in 1965,the total debt was
$600 million; by the time of Corazon Aquino's presidency, With little help from others, we Filipinos
it had ballooned to $26 billion - a 4300-percent rise. fulfilled the first and most difficult conditions
of the debt negotiation the full restorative of
Many Conditions imposed on the previous government that the democracy and responsible government.
stole this debt continue to be imposed on us who never
benefited from it. Yet ours must have been the cheapest
revolution ever.
 v. building a new home for democracy

- In May 1987, the Commission on Human

In March 1986, Aquino proclaimed a provisional constitution Rights was established and its mandate was
and soon thereafter appointed a commission to write a new to promote the protection, respect, and
constitution. The resulting document, which restored the enhancement of the people's civil, political,
bicameral Congress abolished by Marcos in 1973, was economic, social, and cultural rights.
ratified by a landslide popular vote in February 1987. Aquino
held elections to the new Congress and broke up the
monopolies held by Marcos’s allies over the economy, which
experienced steady growth for several years. Aquino was
succeeded in office by her former defense secretary, Fidel
Ramos.
 MEMBERS
Daniel Joseph Patoc

Siti Nur Ain Andallo

Kathleen Joy Angolluan

Rachelle Pascua

Princes Angel Quilang

Steffanie Talaue
Thank you!!!