Feb 22, 1986. Lt. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos roared: “I came here because of my sincere conviction that the time had come to reverse the situation […] it had been building up, in my perception, that General Ver and the President were bent on making themselves permanent in our society.” 
Around 6:00 PM on February 22, 1986, a Sunday, a sudden press conference was called in Camp Aguinaldo. Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Lt. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, the acting Armed Forces chief-of-staff, announced their defection from Ferdinand E. Marcos’ dictatorship.
Among a smorgasbord of his own reasons behind his defection, Ramos explained: “But on top of that, I came here to support the decision of the Minister of National Defense to seek a better armed forces, which I feel partly responsible for—and a better overall life for our people.”
Ramos also made a strong statement against the military he was leading: “The reason for my being here […] is that because the Armed Forces of the Philippines has ceased to be the real Armed Forces… which is supposed to be the defender of public safety and enforcer of the law.”
Later that evening, using a bullhorn to speak from atop a parked vehicle outside Aguinaldo, General Ramos exclaimed to the crowds that milled around the camp: “What is happening is not a coup de’tat, but a revolution of the people!” The people cheered him on.
#FromTheArchives
#FromTheArchives
ARCHIVAL SOURCES:
1. “EDSA 25: Sulyap sa Kasaysayan,” ABS-CBN. 2011.
2. “People Power: The Filipino Experience,” Communication Foundation for Asia. 1986.
3. Ang Pahayagang Malaya, February 23, 1986.
#DefendHistoricalTruth
1. “EDSA 25: Sulyap sa Kasaysayan,” ABS-CBN. 2011.
2. “People Power: The Filipino Experience,” Communication Foundation for Asia. 1986.
3. Ang Pahayagang Malaya, February 23, 1986.
#DefendHistoricalTruth
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
