APRIL 4, 1975: In protest of what he felt was a sham trial, Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino Jr. began what he intended to be a death fast, subsisting only on salt tablets, sodium bicarbonate and amino acids, and two glasses of water. Despite this, the Military Tribunal forced Ninoy to be brought to the session hall everyday.
ABOVE: Ninoy Aquino, gaunt and visibly weakened, after his hunger strike.
The Diliman Commune: A year and a month after the start of the First Quarter Storm, University of the Philippines students, supported by faculty members and non-academic personnel, occupied the Diliman campus and barricaded its main roads from February 1 to 9, 1971. (Photos courtesy of the Philippine Collegian)
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January 30, 1970: Journalist Jose Lacaba notes that “so far [this is] the most violent night in the city’s postwar history.”
Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos provides a “sober, lucid and accurate” account of that night:
…demonstrators numbering about 10,000 students and laborers stormed Malacañang Palace, burning part of the medical building, crashing through Gate 4 with a fire truck that had been forcibly commandeered by some laborers and students amidst shouts of “Mabuhay Dante!” and slogans from Mao Tse Tung, the new Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army. The rioters sought to enter Malacañang but the Metropolitan Command (METROCOM) of the Philippine Constabulary and the Presidential Guards repulsed them towards Mendiola Bridge, where in an exchange of gunfire, hours later, four persons were killed and scores from both sides injured. The crowd was finally dispersed by tear gas grenades.
—Today’s Revolution: Democracy by Ferdinand E. Marcos
President Marcos also writes about the events of this day in his diaries, which you can take a peek at over on the Philippine Diary Project.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_map1w1FROJ1qifq8yo1_500.jpg)
January 30, 1970: Journalist Jose Lacaba notes that “so far [this is] the most violent night in the city’s postwar history.”
Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos provides a “sober, lucid and accurate” account of that night:
…demonstrators numbering about 10,000 students and laborers stormed Malacañang Palace, burning part of the medical building, crashing through Gate 4 with a fire truck that had been forcibly commandeered by some laborers and students amidst shouts of “Mabuhay Dante!” and slogans from Mao Tse Tung, the new Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army. The rioters sought to enter Malacañang but the Metropolitan Command (METROCOM) of the Philippine Constabulary and the Presidential Guards repulsed them towards Mendiola Bridge, where in an exchange of gunfire, hours later, four persons were killed and scores from both sides injured. The crowd was finally dispersed by tear gas grenades.
—Today’s Revolution: Democracy by Ferdinand E. Marcos
President Marcos also writes about the events of this day in his diaries, which you can take a peek at over on the Philippine Diary Project.
January 30, 1970: Outside Gate 4 of Malacañan Palace.
Among the stirring documents that recall the events of the First Quarter Storm are the articles Jose F. Lacaba published in the Philippines Free Press. These along with other documents would later be compiled in his book, Days of Disquiet, Nights of Rage. An excerpt, from The Philippines Free Press Online:
Quiet once more. I emerged from my hiding place and walked out into a street from which I could see the church on Earnshaw. There was a small group of students clustered at the door of an accessoria, talking animatedly, and I joined them. I was listening to them relate their experiences when, at the corner of Earnshaw and this street we were in, a squad of Metrocom men appeared. Everybody fled, except myself, two students, and the occupants of the accessoria, who worriedly told us to get in if we didn’t want to get hurt. In that dark, dingy, cramped accessoria, the two students and I stayed for a whole hour, seated on the steps of very narrow stairs, gulping down glasses and glasses of water, smoking, talking in whispers—“Rebolusyon na ito, brod,” they said—until the coast was clear.
Photo courtesy of The First Quarter Storm Library.
ABOVE: The composition of the 1971 Constitutional Convention that created the 1973 Constitution, detailing the number of delegates per province.
On June 1, 1971, Congress called for a Constitutional Convention to review and rewrite the 1935 Constitution, with 320 delegates who were elected on November 10, 1970.
Source: gov.ph
TODAY IN HISTORY: In 1973, President Ferdinand E. Marcos issued Proclamation No. 1102, declaring the 1973 Constitution ratified and in force, two days after the results of the Citizens’ Assemblies held on January 10-15. He then ordered the padlocking of Congress. The Second Regular Session of the 7th Congress had been scheduled to open on January 22.
ABOVE: Senators Doy Laurel, Eva Estrada Kalaw, Ramon Mitra, Gerry Roxas, and Jovito Salonga outside the padlocked Senate session hall. Photo from Doy Laurel by Celia Diaz-Laurel.
Source: gov.ph
TODAY IN HISTORY: This headline appeared on September 24, 1972, following President Ferdinand E. Marcos’ televised nationwide address announcing that he had placed the nation under martial law.
Decades later, the surviving footage can now be viewed on the Official Gazette, courtesy of the ABS-CBN News Archives.
TODAY IN HISTORY: After declaring on January 16, 1981 that he would lift Martial Law, President Ferdinand E. Marcos issued Proclamation No. 2045 on January 17, 1981, thus proclaiming the official termination of the state of Martial Law in the Philippines. President Marcos, however, reserved decree-making powers for himself.
After the 1971 Constitutional Convention submitted a draft Constitution to President Ferdinand E. Marcos in December 1972, President Marcos issued a proclamation calling for Citizens’ Assemblies (plebiscite) to ratify or reject the proposed Constitution. These were held on January 10-15, 1973.
A solid 90% voted to adopt it and also voted not to hold another plebiscite to ratify the Constitution.
Source: gov.ph
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Above, another shot of the funeral procession of Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino Jr., as it entered Luneta, with Diosdado Macapagal and Ninoy’s only son Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino III leading the pallbearers. Note that the flag had been defiantly lowered by the crowd as the truck carrying the bier passed.
Among the many people stirred by Ninoy’s death was Jesse M. Robredo.
The memorial book that the PCDSPO released to the public today relates how Jesse “would stand in the winding queue outside the Aquino home, joining the thousands who grieved, who paid their respects to the fallen hero. For the martyr’s funeral, Jesse numbered among the defiant crowd that marched across Manila, alongside Ninoy’s remains. Jesse would tie a yellow ribbon on that car to signal his support of the widowed Cory, his grief over Ninoy’s martyrdom, and his empathy with the Aquino movement. Jesse would attend the rally in support of Cory Aquino after the snap election of 1986. And when the nation marched to storm Malacañang and depose the dictator, Jesse marched with them.” [Access the Jesse M. Robredo Memorial Book.]
On August 21, 2012—twenty-nine years after the death of Ninoy Aquino—the body of Jesse M. Robredo was retrieved in the waters of Masbate, after grueling search and rescue operations. President Benigno S. Aquino III personally escorted the body carrying his Secretary of the Interior and Local Government back to Naga City, back to the Robredo family.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m93962uw2U1qifq8yo1_r1_500.jpg)
Above, another shot of the funeral procession of Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino Jr., as it entered Luneta, with Diosdado Macapagal and Ninoy’s only son Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino III leading the pallbearers. Note that the flag had been defiantly lowered by the crowd as the truck carrying the bier passed.
Among the many people stirred by Ninoy’s death was Jesse M. Robredo.
The memorial book that the PCDSPO released to the public today relates how Jesse “would stand in the winding queue outside the Aquino home, joining the thousands who grieved, who paid their respects to the fallen hero. For the martyr’s funeral, Jesse numbered among the defiant crowd that marched across Manila, alongside Ninoy’s remains. Jesse would tie a yellow ribbon on that car to signal his support of the widowed Cory, his grief over Ninoy’s martyrdom, and his empathy with the Aquino movement. Jesse would attend the rally in support of Cory Aquino after the snap election of 1986. And when the nation marched to storm Malacañang and depose the dictator, Jesse marched with them.” [Access the Jesse M. Robredo Memorial Book.]
On August 21, 2012—twenty-nine years after the death of Ninoy Aquino—the body of Jesse M. Robredo was retrieved in the waters of Masbate, after grueling search and rescue operations. President Benigno S. Aquino III personally escorted the body carrying his Secretary of the Interior and Local Government back to Naga City, back to the Robredo family.
Photos of Ninoy Aquino’s room in the Maximum Security Unit (MSU) of the Philippine Army at Fort Bonifacio. Ninoy was allowed to bring in books (his reading fare was mostly of religion, philosophy, medicine, law, and political science) and magazines (like Newsweek and Time), as well as dumbbells, a toaster, and a typewriter.
“Against one wall,” this article says, “stood a shelf holding hundreds of old books and novels, ranging from politics, history, science and romance. Aquino’s collection included a yellowing copy of the Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon, Castro’s Revolution, Myths and Realities by Theodoro Draper, The New York Times election handbook, Pablo Neruda’s memoirs, and Danielle Steele’s The Cracker Factory. Also on the shelf were books titled How to Interpret Your Own Dreams and Fasting: The Ultimate Diet.”
Where to begin? On Manchurian or the Castro? On the Neruda or the Danielle Steele? Was he reading that “diet” book in 1975? I want to know what else Ninoy was reading.
NT: On a recent visit to La Solidaridad Bookshop, F. Sionil Jose spoke of Ninoy’s reading habits, noting that during less turbulent days the bespectacled Senator would while away his time at the bookstore reading. He spent a lot of his money on books and soon he managed to build a small library for himself.
Mang Frankie recalls that when Ninoy was arrested, his wife Cory would regularly visit Solidaridad, box in tow. On his end, Mang Frankie would fill it with books for Cory to take to Ninoy.
In his room at Fort Bonifacio, Ninoy would then sift through his loot, returning the books he didn’t favor. Mang Frankie relates nostalgically that he could very well trace the shifts in Ninoy’s ideology based on what had been kept and what had been returned.
Source: gov.ph
AUGUST 27, 1973: Ninoy Aquino, noticeably thinner—but no less spirited—after nearly eleven months in detention. Before the Military Commission No. 2, a “kangaroo court” which was to try him for charges ranging from illegal possession of firearms to subversion, Ninoy delivered a prepared statement—a passionate and scathing denunciation of the regime of President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
Two days earlier, Ninoy had written to his only son Noynoy about his coming meeting with the Commission and about his decision not to participate in the proceedings:
“Son, my decision is an act of protest against the structures of injustice that have been imposed upon our hapless countrymen. Futile and puny as it will surely appear too many, it is last my act to defiance against tyranny and dictatorship.”
Source: gov.ph
APRIL 4, 1975: In protest of what he felt was a sham trial, Ninoy began what he intended to be a death fast, subsisting only on salt tablets, sodium bicarbonate and amino acids, and two glasses of water. Despite this, the Military Tribunal forced Ninoy to be brought to the session hall everyday.
ABOVE: Ninoy Aquino, gaunt and visibly weakened, after his hunger strike.
Source: gov.ph
Photos of Ninoy Aquino’s room in the Maximum Security Unit (MSU) of the Philippine Army at Fort Bonifacio. Ninoy was allowed to bring in books (his reading fare was mostly of religion, philosophy, medicine, law, and political science) and magazines (like Newsweek and Time), as well as dumbbells, a toaster, and a typewriter.
Source: gov.ph
TOP PHOTO: Taken about a week after his arrest, Ninoy Aquino is shown in a huddle with Aurora (at left) and wife Cory (at right). BELOW: Ninoy Aquino taking a sip of water; with Senator Francisco Rodrigo.
Ninoy wrote in Testament from a Prison Cell, “My detention camp”—referring to the Maximum Security Compound (MSU) of the Philippine Army at Fort Bonifacio—“is also known as the ‘cemetery for the living’—to distinguish it from the American Cemetery dirtily to the north and the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Cemetery of Heroes) slightly to the south.”
Source: gov.ph
TODAY IN HISTORY: This headline appeared forty years ago today following President Ferdinand E. Marcos’ televised nationwide address announcing that he had placed the nation under martial law.
Decades later, the surviving footage can now be viewed on the Official Gazette, courtesy of the ABS-CBN News Archives.
The anniversary of the declaration of martial law is on September 23 (not September 21).
Source: gov.ph
