Marcos Dictatorship & People Power
Ferdinand Marcos was elected president in 1965 and declared martial law in 1972 — the beginning of a 21-year dictatorship that shook the country to its core. Marcos and his wife Imelda (notorious for her 3,000 pairs of shoes) systematically plundered the state treasury — an estimated 5–10 billion dollars disappeared into Swiss bank accounts. Political opponents were imprisoned, tortured, or murdered. Over 3,000 people were killed, 35,000 tortured, 70,000 imprisoned.
The turning point came on August 21, 1983, when opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. was shot upon his return from exile at Manila International Airport — likely on Marcos' orders. The airport now bears his name.
The People Power Revolution (EDSA Revolution) from February 22–25, 1986, was one of the first peaceful mass revolutions in history: over two million people gathered on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) in Manila — nuns stood in front of tanks, soldiers refused to fire, and after four days, the Marcos family fled into exile in Hawaii. Corazon "Cory" Aquino, widow of the murdered Ninoy, became the first woman to lead an Asian democracy.
The People Power Revolution inspired peaceful uprisings worldwide — from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Arab Spring. It remains the proudest moment in modern Philippine history.
💡 Tipp
The Ayala Museum in Makati has an excellent diorama exhibition on Philippine history — 60 handcrafted dioramas tell the story from pre-colonial times to the People Power Revolution. Admission: 475 PHP.
