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From 1986 to 1987, there were several plots to overthrow Philippine President Corazon Aquino involving various members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. A significant number of the military participants in these attempts belonged to the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM), while others were identified loyalists of former President Ferdinand Marcos, who had been deposed in the People Power Revolution in late February 1986.
Two attempts—the November 1986 "God Save the Queen Plot" and the July 1987 plot—were uncovered and quashed by authorities before they could be operationalized. The other plots were repelled with little or no violence, the deadliest being the August 1987 coup attempts which left 53 dead. An even more serious coup attempt would be staged against the Aquino government in December 1989. Following the plot's failure, President Aquino established a fact-finding commission of inquiry headed by then-COMELEC Chairman Hilario Davide Jr. The report would become known as the Davide Commission Report, and it was mandated to investigate and provide a full report on the series of coup attempts against the Aquino government.
The first occurred on July 6, 1986, when some 490 armed soldiers and 15,000 civilians loyal to former President Ferdinand Marcos occupied Manila Hotel for 37 hours. At the hotel, Marcos's vice-presidential running mate Arturo Tolentino announced that Marcos had authorized him to temporarily take over the government, took his oath as Acting President, and designated a cabinet. [1] One of the rebel leaders was Brigadier General Jose Maria Zumel. [2] The public remained generally unaffected by this incident, [3] and it ended without violence by July 8. [4]
A more serious conspiracy unfolded some months later, known as the "God Save the Queen Plot". [5] The Davide Commission concluded that Defense Secretary Enrile and members of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) were behind the plot. [6] Scheduled for November 11, 1986, the plot was discovered by government several days in advance and was deliberately leaked to the Philippine Daily Inquirer , thus thwarting the plan. [7]
The government then learnt that the plot was rescheduled for November 22, 1986. [8] On November 22, the military was placed on red alert and the rebel troops were blockaded, leading them to return to barracks. [9] The following day, Aquino announced she had sacked Enrile as Defense Secretary and that she would revamp her Cabinet, "to give the government a chance to start all over again." [10]
The murders of labor leaders Rolando Olalia and Leonor Alay-ay by members of the RAM on November 6, 1986, [11] and of activist Lean Alejandro the following year are believed to have been planned as part of the God Save the Queen coup plot. [12] [13] The surveillance of Olalia and labor minister Augusto "Bobbit" Sanchez have also been linked to the plot. [14]
From January 27–29, 1987, around 100 soldiers led by Colonel Oscar Canlas seized the main compound of GMA Network in Quezon City, [15] while other troops attempted in vain to capture Sangley Point Air Force Base in Cavite. [16] One rebel soldier was killed, while 35 people were injured. [17]
In the early morning of January 1, 1991, former lieutenant colonel Rodolfo Calzado was captured without resistance in Paco Park, Manila by the Philippine Air Force for masterminding the plan to capture Sangley Point, and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. [18]
On August 28, 1992, 16 military rebels who took part in the takeover of GMA were temporarily released from detention and placed in the custody of their respective service commanders on orders from President Fidel Ramos. [19] [20] [21]
On Black Saturday 1987 (April 18), 13 rebel soldiers staged a raid on Fort Bonifacio. It was repelled within the morning, with one rebel soldier dead. [22]
In July 1987, a plot to stage another coup attempt through a military takeover of Manila International Airport was uncovered before it could be implemented, with four officers being court-martialled for the plot. [23]
On August 28, 1987, the most serious attempt up to then to overthrow Aquino's government was launched by members of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement led by Colonel Gregorio Honasan, who had been a former top aide of Enrile. [24] In the early morning, rebel soldiers launched an attack on Malacañang Palace. The siege was repelled within a few hours, with several military and civilian casualties including Aquino's son, the future President Benigno Aquino III, who was wounded. [25] Honasan himself led the soldiers that seized portions of Camp Aguinaldo, including the headquarters of the Department of National Defense. [26] Rebel soldiers also seized parts of Villamor Airbase, Camp Aguinaldo, three television stations in Manila, military camps in Pampanga and Cebu, and the airport in Legaspi City. [27] Various statements broadcast by the rebels referred to "the overindulgence in politics which now pervades in society", [28] the supposed mishandling of the communist insurgency, and the deplorable economic condition of the military rebels. [29] By day's end, government troops were able to recapture most of the rebel-held facilities, and the coup fizzled out by the 29th. 53 were dead and more than 200 wounded; many of the fatalities were unarmed civilians who were fired upon by rebels after they were jeered by the crowd. Honasan himself evaded capture, while Enrile (by then a Senator), denied involvement in the coup. [30] Honasan would eventually be captured by the military in a house in Valle Verde, Pasig on December 9, 1987, [31] but escaped in 1988. [32]
Following the coup attempt, the Aquino government veered to the right, dismissing perceived left-leaning officials such as Executive Secretary Joker Arroyo and tacitly authorizing the establishment of armed, quasi-military groups to combat the ongoing communist insurgency. [33] It was also believed that General Fidel Ramos–who remained loyal to Aquino–emerged as the second-most-powerful person in government following his successful quelling of the coup. [34] Across-the-board wage increases for soldiers were also granted. [30] Aquino herself meanwhile sued Philippine Star columnist Louie Beltran for libel after he wrote that the President hid under her bed when the Palace was under siege. [35]
In January 1991, former navy seaman Jose Pedragoza was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Service for his involvement in the takeover of the People's Television Network station. [36] In October 1992, rebellion charges against the former Constabulary Colonel Reynaldo Cabauatan were dismissed by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court due to the prosecution's failure to locate their witnesses for the trial. [37]
The most serious coup attempt against the Aquino administration on December 1, 1989, when an alliance of RAM and Marcos loyalist soldiers launched a series of coordinated attacks on government and broadcast facilities such as Camp Aguinaldo, Camp Crame, Fort Bonifacio, Villamor Air Base, Sangley Air Base and Malacañang Palace. Three rebel T-28D Trojans raked Malacañang with rockets and gunfire. The rebel soldiers wrongly assumed that they achieved air superiority by effectively neutralizing the assets of the 5th Fighter Wing of the Philippine Air Force. Rebel soldiers in Mactan successfully trapped most of the F-5s and combat-ready pilots, preventing them from interfering with rebel operations. Meanwhile, at Basa Air Base, only three F-5A and an F-5B remained partial mission capability.
Squadron Commander Danilo Atienza of the 6th Tactical Fighter Squadron (Cobras) ordered his maintenance crew to expedite bringing the F-5s back to full operation. Later that same day, three F-5s under Atienza's command fought the rebel T-28s, culminating in the destruction of the Tora-Tora on the ground at Sangley Point.
The elimination of the T-28s turned the tide against the rebels, but at the cost of the F-5A flown by Atienza, who died in one of the strafing runs. Atienza was awarded the Medal of Valor for his heroism, and the airfield at Sangley Point was renamed in his memory. Had it not been for the intervention, the Aquino government would have been overthrown.[ citation needed ]
Controversy later ensued when the Aquino administration asked for assistance from the United States government, which deployed F-4 fighter jets stationed at Clark Air Base to fly over Manila to intimidate the rebels. [38] After most of the rebel assaults failed, a significant number of soldiers then proceeded to occupy the central business district of Makati in what turned into a weeklong standoff that trapped hundreds of civilians, both domestic and foreign, and undermined confidence in the Philippine economy. The siege ended after an agreement was reached for the soldiers to return to barracks. [39]
On March 4, former RAM member and suspended Cagayan governor Rodolfo Aguinaldo directed his private army estimated at 300 men [40] to seize the Hotel Delfino in Cagayan's capital of Tuguegarao following his indictment on charges of rebellion and murder relating to his support for the 1989 coup attempt against Aquino. Brig. Gen. Oscar Florendo, armed forces chief of Civil Military Relations, was sent to Tuguegarao by Aquino to serve Aguinaldo with an arrest warrant. [41] After Aguinaldo's men seized control of Hotel Delfino where the general was staying, Florendo was taken hostage along with more than 50 other hotel guests. Though he was thought to have been a long-time friend of Aguinaldo's, [40] Florendo was shot at close range in the hotel and later died of his wounds. [42] Hours of standoff ensued between the two sides until nearly 1,000 government troops [40] launched an attack to dislodge Aguinaldo's forces from the hotel; government forces prevailed after more than 100 of Aguinaldo's men surrendered and about 90 were captured. [43] During this siege at least a dozen others were killed in or around the hotel; scores of civilian supporters of Aguinaldo were arrested; and a truck with assault rifles, mortars, and crates of ammunition was captured. [44] Following the melee, Aguinaldo fled with about 90 fighters for mountains in the north. [42]
The last coup attempt against President Aquino happened on October 4, when mutinying soldiers staged a dawn raid on army bases in Mindanao. The seizure lasted for two days, ending with Col. Alexander Noble capitulating to the government on October 6.
Lt. Col. Lucas Managuelod, Philippine National Police-CIS National Capital District chief, identified the suspect as ex-Navy Seaman First Class Jose Pedragoza, formerly assigned with the 5th General Headquarters Battalion...
The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, were a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a sustained campaign of civil resistance against regime violence and electoral fraud. The nonviolent revolution led to the departure of Ferdinand Marcos, the end of his 20-year dictatorship and the restoration of democracy in the Philippines.
Juan Valentin Furagganan Ponce Enrile Sr.,, also referred to by his initials JPE, is a Filipino politician and lawyer who served as 21st President of the Senate of the Philippines from 2008 to 2013 and known for his role in the administration of Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos; his role in the failed coup that helped hasten the 1986 People Power Revolution and the ouster of Marcos; and his tenure in the Philippine legislature in the years after the revolution. Enrile has served four terms in the Senate, in a total of twenty-two years, he holds the third longest-tenure in the history of the upper chamber. In 2022, at the age of 98, he returned to government office as the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel in the administration of President Bongbong Marcos.
Gregorio "Gringo" Ballesteros Honasan II, is a Filipino politician and a cashiered Philippine Army officer who led unsuccessful coups d'état against President Corazon Aquino. He played a key role in the 1986 EDSA Revolution that toppled President Ferdinand Marcos, and participated in the EDSA III rallies in 2001 that preceded the May 1 riots near Malacañang Palace.
On July 27, 2003, the Oakwood mutiny was staged by a group of about 300 armed defectors from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) led by Army Capt. Gerardo Gambala and Navy Lt. Senior Grade Antonio Trillanes IV against the Arroyo administration. The group forcibly seized and occupied Oakwood Premier in Glorietta, Makati for almost 20 hours. They expressed grievances against the government's supervision of the military, and demanded the resignation of Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, PNP Director General Hermogenes Ebdane, and AFP Chief of Intelligence Service Victor Corpus; They also aired their grievances against the military establishment and anomalies on the AFP. The mutiny was covered heavily by the local press, who dubbed the group as "Magdalo" in reference to their insignia, which alludes to the Magdalo faction during the Philippine Revolution, despite the group officially calling themselves "Bagong Katipuneros". The mutiny ended after the government successfully negotiated with the group. Several prominent participants of the mutiny, including Trillanes and Gambala, were later charged.
Danilo S. Atienza was a Filipino pilot in the Philippine Air Force.
The 1989 Philippine coup attempt was the most serious attempted coup d'état against the government of Philippine President Corazon Aquino and part of a series of coup attempts against her. It was staged beginning December 1, 1989, by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines belonging to the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) and soldiers loyal to former President Ferdinand Marcos. Metro Manila was shaken by this Christmas-time coup, which almost seized Malacañang Palace. It was completely defeated by the Philippine government by December 9, 1989.
Corazon Aquino began her presidency on February 25, 1986, following the People Power Revolution as the 11th president of the Philippines, succeeding Ferdinand Marcos. Aquino's relatively peaceful ascension to the Philippine presidency signaled the end of authoritarian rule of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines, and drew her and the Filipino people international acclaim and admiration.
The Reform the Armed Forces Movement, also referred to by the acronym RAM, was a cabal of officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) known for several attempts to seize power in the Philippines during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, some of these officers launched a failed coup d'état against Ferdinand Marcos, prompting a large number of civilians to attempt to prevent Marcos from wiping the RAM rebels out. This eventually snowballed into the 1986 People Power revolution which ended the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos and forced him into exile. RAM later attempted six coups d'état against the administration of Corazon Aquino.
Danilo Atienza Air Base is a military base used by the Philippine Air Force, located on the northern end of the Cavite Peninsula in Manila Bay, Luzon Island, Philippines. It is adjacent to Cavite City, in Cavite Province.
The 15th Strike Wing is a wing unit of the Philippine Air Force, responsible for overall tactical and ground air support operations in support of Armed Forces of the Philippines units. The unit is headquartered at Danilo Atienza Air Base, Sangley Point, Cavite, just outside the capital Manila. The Wing, as of 2009, was organized with Personal, Coordinating and Technical Staff. Under the Wing's command were units broken up into 3 major groups: Tactical, Maintenance and Supply, and Air Base. The Wing's tactical elements included the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 20th Attack Squadrons, the 19th Composite Tactical Training Squadron, and the 25th Composite Attack Squadron. Many of these units were forward deployed under the operational control of the Philippine Air Force's numerous Tactical Operations Groups. The 460th Maintenance and Supply Group and the 590th Air Base Group filled the other roles.
1986 in the Philippines details events of note that happened in the Philippines in the year 1986.
1987 in the Philippines details events of note that happened in the Philippines in the year 1987.
The People Power Revolution was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines that began in 1983 and culminated in 1986. The methods used amounted to a sustained campaign of civil resistance against regime violence and electoral fraud. This case of nonviolent revolution led to the toppling of dictator Ferdinand Marcos and the restoration of the country's democracy.
The 1990 Mindanao revolt was an uprising that occurred in parts of the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines. It began when Alexander Noble, a dissident Philippine Army colonel linked to the 1989 Philippine coup attempt against President Corazon Aquino, and his supporters, which included Mindanaoan separatists, seized two military garrisons in Cagayan de Oro and Butuan without firing a shot and unilaterally proclaimed the independence of the Federal Republic of Mindanao on October 4, 1990, to be led by a civilian-military junta and with an ultimate goal of removing Aquino from office. However, Noble failed to gain support, and surrendered two days later following attacks by government forces. The revolt was the last overt attempt to overthrow Aquino's government until the end of her term in 1992.
The Siege at Hotel Delfino in Tuguegarao, Cagayan in the Philippines, took place on March 4, 1990. A private army estimated at 300 men seized the hotel under the command of suspended Cagayan governor Rodolfo "Agi" Aguinaldo, a fierce critic of the administration of President Corazon Aquino and the Communist rebellion in the Philippines. The incident was an offshoot of the 1989 Philippine coup attempt that Aguinaldo publicly supported, which prompted his suspension and arrest. The standoff ended violently after several hours, leaving 14 people dead, including a general who tried to arrest him.
The February 1986 Reform the Armed Forces Movement coup was set in motion by the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) under the leadership of Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile to depose then-president Ferdinand Marcos, but was discovered and aborted in its earliest stages on February 22, 1986. The coup's intent was to take advantage of the public disruption arising from revelations of cheating during the 1986 Philippine presidential election, and replace Marcos with a military junta which would include Enrile, Philippine Constabulary Chief Fidel V. Ramos, then-Presidential Candidate Corazon Aquino, and Roman Catholic Cardinal Jaime Sin, among others, which Enrile and the RAM Colonels would control from behind the scenes.
On August 28, 1987, a coup d'état against the government of Philippine President Corazon Aquino was staged by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) belonging to the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) led by Colonel Gregorio Honasan, who had been a former top aide of ousted Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile, one of the instigators of the People Power Revolution that brought Aquino to power in 1986. The coup was repelled by military forces loyal to Aquino within the day, although Honasan managed to escape.
On January 27, 1987, a coup d'état against the government of Philippine President Corazon Aquino was staged by civilian and military supporters of Aquino's deposed predecessor, Ferdinand Marcos. The soldiers were members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) who belonged to the Guardians Brotherhood, Inc (GBI) led by Colonel Oscar Canlas. They launched failed attacks on Philippine Air Force (PAF) installations at Villamor Air Base in Pasay and Sangley Point Air Station in Cavite, and occupied the GMA-7 television station in Quezon City for 61 hours before surrendering on January 29.
The siege of the Manila Hotel was an occupation of the Manila Hotel, a luxury hotel in the Philippine capital Manila, led by former vice-presidential candidate Arturo Tolentino and other military and civilian supporters of deposed President Ferdinand Marcos as part of a coup attempt to overthrow his successor, Corazon Aquino and restore him to power, on 6–8 July 1986. The coup failed to gain extensive support, and ended on 8 July with the departure of most participants and the surrender of others.
The God Save the Queen Plot was a planned coup in November 1986 by Minister of National Defense Juan Ponce Enrile and the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM), a dissident faction within the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to overthrow President Corazon Aquino, whom it helped install during the People Power Revolution nine months before. However, the staging of the coup was delayed and ultimately stopped by maneuvers within the AFP led by Chief of Staff General Fidel Ramos before a shot was even fired. As a result, Enrile was subsequently fired by Aquino from her cabinet.
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