The Philippines is not known, or believed, to possess weapons of mass destruction. Article II Section 8 of the Philippine Constitution explicitly forbids the presence of nuclear weapons in the Philippines.
The Philippines, as a ratifier to the Biological Weapons Convention, bans all production and import of biological weapons in the country. It also signed the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, thus promoting a nuclear-weapons-free Southeast Asia.
The Philippine nuclear program started in 1958 with the creation of the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) under Republic Act 2067. [1] A year after Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972, he announced the decision to build a nuclear power plant at Bataan. [1] Marcos reasoned that this was in response to the 1973 oil crisis, as the Middle East oil embargo had put a heavy strain on the Philippine economy. [2] He temporarily suspended construction in 1979 citing health and safety concerns. [3] The plant was completed in 1984. However, two years later in 1986, the year in which Marcos was ousted from power following the People Power Revolution, and the same year in which the reactor at Chernobyl, Soviet Union (now part of Ukraine) accidentally exploded, the new president Corazon Aquino decided not to operate the plant [1] [4] due to the proximity to a major geological fault and to then dormant stratovolcano Mt. Pinatubo which erupted in 1991.
In 2016, Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, a former defence secretary under the Marcos administration, claimed that the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was intended to be used in a development of a nuclear weapons program. While he maintained that the facility's main purpose was for electricity generation he alleged that the nuclear power plant's second purpose is for nuclear weapons production. Enrile speculated that if the Philippines had successfully developed nuclear weapons, China would be deterred in pursuing aggressive claims in the South China Sea. Enrile later admitted that he was not an expert on the mechanics and technology of the production of nuclear weapons. [5]
Beginning in December 1957, the United States of America used the Philippines as a storage base for hundreds of nuclear weapons. These included gravity bombs, depth bombs, and tactical nuclear weapons such as AIM-26 Falcon air-to-air missiles, RUR-5 ASROC anti-submarine missiles, and RIM-8 Talos surface-to-air missiles. An American document from December 1969 indicated that President Ferdinand Marcos had been informed of the weapons in 1966, but that it was believed that if it became publicly known it would "gravely jeopardize U.S.-Philippine relations," particularly on the eve of scheduled presidential elections. The presence of the weapons was not revealed publicly until much later. [6] [7] [8] [9] In 1974, after US nuclear weapons were removed from Taiwan, they were stationed at Clark Air Base, in Luzon. In 1976, 140 nuclear weapons were relocated back to the United States at Cubi Point, and by at least 1977, no nuclear weapons remained in the country. [10] [9]
Currently, however, there is a movement in the country that aims to stop construction of nuclear power plants in the country and terminate American military presence in the country, which were believed to house nuclear weapons on Philippine soil.
Despite provocations by China since 2010s amidst the South China Sea disputes, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III disagreed on letting the Philippines have nuclear weapons. [11] He justified it from the lack of government funds to create such weapon, coupled with the fact that having such weapon would only escalate tensions between the two countries.
In 2019, Juan Ponce Enrile reiterates his earlier claims in 2016 that the Philippines should have developed nuclear weapons to assert its claims, particularly in reinforcing the Philippines v. China international arbitration ruling, regarding its territorial disputes with China. [12] Defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana in response to Enrile's statement said that the Philippines is not planning to develop nuclear weapons due to the country's limited technological capabilities as well as legal obligations such as being party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. [13]
The Philippines signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on 20 September 2017, and ratified it on 18 February 2021. [14]
Rebels from the communist New People's Army were accused of using biological weapons against the Armed Forces of the Philippines in eastern Mindanao, but they refuted such a claim. [15]
Philippines signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993.
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator and kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. Marcos ruled the country under martial law from 1972 to 1981, and with vastly expanded powers under the 1973 Constitution until he was deposed by a nonviolent revolution in 1986. Marcos described his rule's philosophy as "constitutional authoritarianism" under his Kilusang Bagong Lipunan. One of the most controversial figures in Filipino history, Marcos's regime was infamous for its corruption, extravagance, and brutality.
Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino was a Filipino politician who served as the eleventh President of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People Power Revolution, which ended the two-decade rule of President Ferdinand Marcos and led to the establishment of the current democratic Fifth Philippine Republic.
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.
The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) is a nuclear power plant on the Bataan Peninsula, 100 kilometers (62 mi) west of Manila, Philippines. Completed but never fueled, it is located on a 3.57 km2 (1.38 sq mi) government reservation at Napot Point in Barangay Nagbalayong, Morong, Bataan. It was the Philippines' only attempt at building a nuclear power plant. It was mothballed due to safety concerns in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986 and issues regarding corruption.
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.
Proclamation No. 1081 was the document which contained formal proclamation of martial law in the Philippines by President Ferdinand Marcos, as announced to the public on September 23, 1972.
This article covers the history of the current Philippine republican state following the 1986 People Power Revolution, known as the Fifth Philippine Republic.
The history of the Philippines, from 1965 to 1986, covers the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos. The Marcos era includes the final years of the Third Republic (1965–1972), the Philippines under martial law (1972–1981), and the majority of the Fourth Republic (1981–1986). By the end of the Marcos dictatorial era, the country was experiencing a debt crisis, extreme poverty, and severe underemployment.
The Four Day Revolution is a 1988 Australian television film directed by Robert Markowitz and written by David Williamson. The story is about the journey and the love affair of an American foreign correspondent set during the final years of Ferdinand Marcos' dictatorship in the Philippines, from the assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr. in 1983 to the People Power Revolution in 1986, as well as other key events that led to the ouster of Marcos.
The anti-nuclear movement in the Philippines aimed to stop the construction of nuclear power facilities and terminate the presence of American military bases, which were believed to house nuclear weapons on Philippine soil. Anti-nuclear demonstrations were led by groups such as the Nuclear-Free Philippines Coalition (NFPC) and No Nukes Philippines. Coalitions argued that American bases in the Philippines perpetuated nuclear threats from other opponent nations of the United States, and that nuclear testing was transpiring in these bases. The nuclear threats and the bases also represented foreign intervention from the United States, which was a staunch issue among nationalists.
Guillermo Vinluan de Vega, nicknamed Gimo, was a presidential assistant of Philippine president Ferdinand E. Marcos with the rank of cabinet secretary. He was assassinated on October 27, 1975, while working at his office at the Malacañan Palace, the site of the president's residence and office complex.
The 2010 election of members to the Senate of the Philippines was the 30th election to the Senate of the Philippines. It was held on Monday, May 10, 2010, to elect 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate. The winners in this election joined the winners of the 2007 election to form the 15th Congress of the Philippines. The senators elected in 2007 will serve until June 30, 2013, while the senators elected in this election will serve up to June 30, 2016. The 2010 presidential election, elections to the House of Representatives as well as local elections occurred on the same date. The Philippines uses plurality-at-large voting for seats in the Senate: the twelve candidates with the highest number of votes wins the twelve seats up for election.
Corazon Aquino became the 11th President of the Philippines following the People Power Revolution or EDSA 1, and spanned a six-year period from February 25, 1986, to June 30, 1992. 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.
Nuclear energy was considered as an alternative source of energy after the 1973 oil crisis affected the Philippines. The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was built by President Ferdinand Marcos in the early 1980s, but never went into operation after it was mothballed by Marcos' successor, President Corazon Aquino, who cited the possibility of a reactor meltdown after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, as well as the increase of the price of the plant. The Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 dampened further efforts to revive the nuclear power plant and nuclear energy in the country. Proposals to revive the plant remain controversial.
1972 in the Philippines details events of note that happened in the Philippines in the year 1972.
The Solid North refers to the regional voting bloc of the northern provinces of the Philippines for politicians of Ilocano descent, more particularly the Marcos family and their allies, and also economic issues affecting the Ilocanos in general such as the tobacco industry. Often included in Solid North are the provinces in the Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and Cagayan Valley. The regions are considered to be a conservative/right-wing bastion for the country.
Philippine Communications Satellite Corporation (PHILCOMSAT) is a telecommunications company based in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. Its main teleport is in the province of Rizal.
Certain associates of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, historically referred to using the catchphrase "Marcos cronies", benefited from their friendship with Marcos – whether in terms of legal assistance, political favors, or facilitation of business monopolies, during his administration. Marcos critics, and the local and international press began referring to these individuals as "cronies" during the latter days of the Marcos dictatorship, and the Philippine government – especially the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) – continued using the term after the ouster of Marcos in 1986.
Historical distortion regarding Ferdinand Marcos is a political phenomenon in the Philippines. Ferdinand Marcos was the country's president between 1965 and 1986. Distortion, falsification, or whitewashing of the historical record regarding this period, sometimes referred to using the phrases "historical denialism", "historical negationism", or "historical revisionism" as a euphemism for negationism, is an academically documented phenomenon linked to the return of Marcos' immediate family and political allies to government positions, as well as the hero's burial of Marcos himself in 2016. It continues Marcos' own efforts to create a cult of personality for himself, which in itself involved various forms of historical distortion.
