The Never Ending Democratization of the Philippines 77 coup”, or as Marcos described his regime, a “constitutional authoritarianism”. He abolished Congress and turned the legislative building into the National Museum. He imprisoned his political enemies, notably Senators Jose W. Diokno and Benigno S. Aquino Jr. When Senator Aquino Jr. was found to be suffering from a heart ailment, Marcos allowed him to leave the country and seek medical attention in the United States. Marcos' rm grip on the levers of government power gradually loosened. The economic privileges of his cronies slowed the inow of foreign direct investments. The consequent unemployment was addressed through the export of manpower. Foreign borrowings became an alternative source of revenues of the country whose tax collection base is among the lowest in the region. In the 1980s the Philippines joined Mexico in calling for a moratorium on foreign debt payment. At this juncture, Senator Aquino Jr. decided to return home from his political exile to unite the opposition. He was assassinated upon his arrival at the airport on August 21, 1983 while under the custody of the Aviation Security Command. This triggered a nationwide outrage which galvanized the anti-Marcos opposition. The assassination of Senator Aquino Jr. intersected with the economic crisis. These were aggravated by the fractious military and their opposing political patrons and created serious instability in the Marcos government. A faction in the military was disgusted by the perceived discrimination against them. They publicly articulated their grievances. But this made Marcos suspicious and eventually ordered the arrest of the discontented soldiers. Their protest against discrimination, however, was seen as a mere symptom of the deadlier struggle for power between factions maneuvering to succeed Marcos.
On February 25, 1986, Marcos was ousted and his authoritarian regime ended. The military mutiny from the faction called Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) supported by civilian and religious groups ushered in what is now called the “People Power Revolution”. This followed the “snap elections” called by Marcos because of questions about the legitimacy of his martial law regime. When the National Assembly controlled by the administration proclaimed Marcos the winner, civilian and religious groups insisted on the electoral victory of Corazon Aquino, and mounted a campaign of civil disobedience—non-payment of taxes and boycott of products of companies owned by the cronies of Marcos. Seemingly by design, the division in the military surfaced. In response to an arrest order for Defense Minister Enrile and the leaders of RAM, this rebel group holed up in Camp Aguinaldo and vowed to ght to the last man. General Fidel Ramos, from his headquarters in Camp Crame, declared his support for the rebel soldiers. Heeding the call of Cardinal Sin, civic and religious groups converged at Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame and formed a “human shield” to protect rebel soldiers from the military forces loyal to Marcos. These historic images along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue 30 years ago started another democratic transition of our country.