Download Power And Revolution 2022
Penny Dale
The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution[a] or the February Revolution,[4][5][6][7] was 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.
It is also referred to as the Yellow Revolution[8] due to the presence of yellow ribbons during demonstrations (in reference to the Tony Orlando and Dawn song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree") as a symbol of protest following the assassination of Filipino senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr.[9] in August 1983 upon his return to the Philippines from exile. It was widely seen as a victory of the people against two decades of presidential rule by President Marcos, and made news headlines as "the revolution that surprised the world".[10]
Through this decree and through a controversial referendum in which citizen assemblies voted through a show of hands, Marcos seized emergency powers giving him full control of the Philippines' military and the authority to suppress and abolish the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, and many other civil liberties.
A constitutional convention, which had been called for in 1970 to replace the Commonwealth-era 1935 Constitution, continued the work of framing a new constitution after the declaration of martial law. The new constitution went into effect in early 1973, changing the form of government from presidential to parliamentary and allowing President Marcos to stay in power beyond 1973. The constitution was approved by 95% of the voters in the Philippine constitutional plebiscite. The constitution was part of the landmark Javellana v. Executive Secretary case (G.R. No. 36142) that led to the resignation of Chief Justice Roberto Concepcion. Part of the plot of the regime involved legitimizing the military rule through the new constitution providing legislative and executive powers to the president. Simultaneously Marcos conducted the 1973 plebiscite through the simple counting of hands raised by children and adults that involved questions such as the option for more rice in lieu of constitutional affirmation.[18]
With practically all of his political opponents arrested, out of office, and in exile, President Marcos's pre-emptive declaration of martial law in 1972 and the ratification of his new constitution by more than 95% of voters enabled Marcos to effectively legitimize his government and hold on to power for another 14 years beyond his first two terms as president. In a Cold War context, Marcos retained the support of the United States through Marcos's promise to stamp out communism in the Philippines and by assuring the United States of its continued use of military and naval bases in the Philippines.[16]
Still, people came to EDSA until it swelled to hundreds of thousands of unarmed civilians. The mood in the street was very festive, with many bringing whole families. Performers entertained the crowds, nuns and priests led prayer vigils, and people set up barricades and makeshift sandbags, trees, and vehicles in several places along EDSA and intersecting streets such as Santolan and Ortigas Avenue. Everywhere, people listened to Radio Veritas on their radios. A photo taken by Pete Reyes of Srs. Porferia Ocariza and Teresita Burias leading the rosary in front of soldiers has since become an iconic picture of the revolution.[69] Several groups sang Bayan Ko (My Homeland),[70] which, since 1980, had become a patriotic anthem of the opposition. People frequently flashed the 'LABAN' sign,[71] which is an "L" formed with their thumb and index finger. 'laban' is the Filipino word for 'fight', but also the abbreviation of Lakas ng Bayan, Ninoy Aquino's party. After lunch on February 23, Enrile and Ramos decided to consolidate their positions. Enrile crossed EDSA from Camp Aguinaldo to Camp Crame amidst cheers from the crowd.[67]
While much of the historical focus regarding the People Power Revolution has been on events around the two camps and the presidential palace, Filipinos from all over the archipelago also participated in the revolution, with large protests happening in Baguio, Cebu City, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao City,[93] as well as prominent municipalities such as Los Baños, Laguna.[94] Cebu played a particularly important part because Corazon Aquino was there at the time the EDSA protests began, speaking at a rally at Fuente Osmeña Circle which was a protest against cheating during the Presidential elections earlier that month.[95]
Immediately after her accession, Aquino issued Proclamation No. 3, a provisional constitution which established a revolutionary government. The edict promulgated the 1986 Freedom Constitution, which retained or superseded various provisions of the 1973 Constitution that were in force up to that point. This allowed Aquino to wield both executive and legislative powers; among her first acts was to unilaterally abolish the Batasang Pambansa (the unicameral legislature duly elected in 1984), pending a plebiscite for a more permanent Constitution and the establishment of a new Congress by 1987.[96]
Despite the success of the People Power Revolution, there were elements which were dissatisfied by Aquino's rise to power, including the leaders Reform the Armed Forces Movement which had launched the failed coup against Marcos and had been saved by the arrival of the Civilians at EDSA.[97] As a result, these groups launched a number of coup d'état attempts throughout Aquino's term.[97]
The revolution had an effect on democratization movements in such countries as Taiwan and South Korea; other effects include the restoration of the freedom of the press, abolition of repressive laws enforced by the previous regime, the adoption of the 1987 Constitution, and the subordination of the military to civilian rule, despite several coup attempts during Aquino's rule.[98]
The revolution provided for the restoration of democratic institutions after 13 years of authoritarian rule and these institutions has been used by various groups to challenge the entrenched political families and to strengthen Philippine democracy.[99]
The People Power Revolution has inspired a call for a change of government through peaceful protests rather than bloodshed. Many similar revolutions have followed since then, taking the Philippine example of nonviolent regime change, such as that in East Germany and many other former Soviet Bloc countries, most of which had direct relation to the end of the Cold War in 1989.[100]
In spite of the revolution's repudiation of Marcos' dictatorial regime, the Marcos family slowly regained a political presence in the Philippines mostly through what researchers attribute to a systematic spread of lies and disinformation,[101][102] with Imelda and her children Bongbong and Imee reacquiring positions in government by the 1990s. Bongbong himself was defeated as runner-up to Leni Robredo as a candidate for the Philippine vice presidency during the 2016 presidential elections. He protested in the Supreme Court and was denied multiple times, with the official gap getting even significantly larger from the original results.[103] In 2021, Bongbong announced his bid for the Philippine presidency in the 2022 Philippine presidential election.[104] He was elected president, marking the Marcos family's return to Malacañang after 36 years.[105][106]
Ferdinand Marcos had been president of the Philippines since 1965. After declaring martial law in 1972, he suspended and eventually rewrote the Philippine constitution, curtailed civil liberties, and concentrated power in the executive branch and among his closest allies. Marcos had tens of thousands of opponents arrested and thousands tortured, killed, or disappeared.
Later that same night, protestors stormed Malacañang Palace, exposing the opulent wealth that the Marcos family had amassed during their time in power. As Corazon Aquino was sworn in as President, Filipinos were hailed around the world as an example of peaceful revolution and the restoration of democracy.
The road ahead would not be so simple, however. In the years since 1986, the legacy of the People Power Revolution has remained uncertain. Aquino faced several coup attempts during her time in power, many of them led by the very same RAM that had helped facilitate her rise to power.
It is 2025 and another sweltering summer's day in California. Millions of solar panels are soaking up the Sun's rays to power the air-conditioning systems that keep homes and offices throughout the state cool. The devices are working efficiently thanks to an intelligent conversation taking place between the appliances and the electrical grid. As clouds drift across the Sun, casting shadows, the air conditioners deftly increase or decrease their output in sync with the varying flow of solar energy. In areas where the demand for electricity looks as though it will overload the power-transmission lines, home air-conditioning units take it in turns to go offline for an hour. In other areas, where solar power threatens to exceed demand, hot-water heaters are turned on to absorb the extra energy.
Entrepreneurial firms are already beginning to make money by doing what Meyn proposes. ENBALA Power Networks in Vancouver, Canada, which has been selling grid-balancing services since 2011, taps into large power loads that can be controlled variably, such as industrial water pumps, and adjusts them in response to signals from grid operators to use the available energy more efficiently.
Several demonstration projects completed in the past three years have tested demand dispatch as a means of smoothing out larger energy swings over several hours, such as the large shifts in wind-power output caused by changing weather systems. PowerShift Atlantic, a demonstration completed this year by a consortium of power-grid operators in three of Canada's maritime provinces, choreographed 17 megawatts of equipment at 1,400 homes and businesses to absorb bursts and troughs in the wind power that, at certain times, generates more than half of the region's electricity.
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