The People Power Revolution (also known as the EDSA Revolution and the Philippine Revolution of 1986) was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines that began in 1983 and culminated in 1986. The methods used amounted to a sustained campaign of civil resistance against regime violence and electoral fraud. This case of nonviolent revolution led to the toppling of dictator Ferdinand Marcos and the restoration of the country's democracy.
September 21 – As the government celebrates Barangay Day/National Thanksgiving Day to commemorate the declaration of martial law, thousands of Aquino's supporters hold a "National Day of Sorrow" and call for unity in the ranks to topple the Marcos dictatorship.[1]
September 25 - The Justice for Aquino, Justice for All or JAJA Coalition is created by Sen. Jose W. Diokno through his group Kilusan sa Kapangyarihan at Karapatan ng Bayan (Movement for People's Sovereignty and Democracy) or KAAKBAY, which introduced pressure politics in the Philippines.[2]
May 14 – Elections for the Batasang Pambansa (parliament) are held. The United Nationalist Democratic Organization (UNIDO) and the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-LABAN) coalition decide to take part. Aquino's widow, Corazón, throws her support behind the opposition candidates, who surprise Marcos by winning 56 seats out of the 183 amidst familiar allegations of fraud.[1]
October 24 – The Agrava Board, a fact-finding commission tasked with investigating the Aquino assassination, concludes that there was a military conspiracy behind the killing and implicates Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Gen. Fabián Ver.[1]
February 22 – General Ver, 24 soldiers, and one civilian stand trial before the Sandiganbayan for the Aquino murder. Ver takes a leave of absence as Armed Forces Chief of Staff.[1]
August 13 – Opposition MPs file a motion for impeachment against Marcos in the Batasan, citing culpable violation of the Constitution and "hidden wealth." The majority party squelches the motion.[1]
November 3 – Marcos suddenly announces the holding of snap elections after alleged prodding from the United States.
December 2 – General Ver and all his co-accused are acquitted by the Sandiganbayan. Marcos reinstates him as Chief of Staff amid widespread protest.[1]
December 3 – Corazon Aquino declares her candidacy for president. Salvador Laurel, who earlier has wanted to run for the same position, agrees to be her running mate.[1]
December 5 – The Opposition makes a formal announcement of the Aquino-Laurel tandem for the snap elections.[1]
Attempts of fraud, vote-buying, intimidation, and violence are reported and election returns are tampered with. The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) tally board shows Marcos leading while the National Citizen's Movement for the Free Elections (NAMFREL) consistently shows Corazon Aquino ahead by a comfortable margin.[1]
Oppositionist ex-Governor Evelio JavierofAntique is murdered in front of the provincial capitol where canvassing is being held. Primary suspects are the bodyguards of the local KBL leader.
Around two million people gathered at the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta Park, Manila to protest the proclamation of Marcos and Tolentino as winners of the February 7 Snap Elections. Opposition leader and UNIDO presidential candidate Corazon Aquino called for nationwide civil disobedience and a boycott of all Marcos crony-owned companies in protest of the proclamation.[4]
12:00 AM: Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and key aides finalize Enrile's speech in which he will proclaim himself head of a ruling junta after rebel troops led by the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) assault on Malacañang. Assault is planned for Feb 23 at 2:00 am.
AFP Chief of Staff Fabian Ver calls in additional units to defend Malacañang.
3:00 AM: The final meeting at the Defense Minister's home is concluded. Lt. Col. Honasan and Kapunan begin their recoinnaisance of Malacañang. To their dismay, they discover battle-hardened Marines stationed at their main point of attack.
6:30 AM: Maj. Avelino Razon briefs AFP Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Fidel V. Ramos on the developments of RAM's plans.
9:00 AM: Fabian Ver sends Col. Rolando Abadilla to Col. Honasan to inform the latter that their plans have been made known already and that RAM should not make any rash decisions.
10:00 AM:
Lt. Col. Honasan phones Kapunan and informs him that they are not going to abort the mission, but to simply "freeze" the operation for the next 24 hours.
Honasan reviews the situation and assesses the prepositioning of the troops from his office in GHQAFP Camp Aguinaldo
Cory Aquino leaves for Cebu to continue the Civil Disobedience Campaign.
12:00 NN:
Navy Capt. Rex Robles was assigned to act as a liaison with the diplomatic community in case the RAM officers will be arrested, and tell the world of their story.
U.S. Amb. Stephen Bosworth along with Philip Habib, Pres. Ronald Reagan's personal envoy to Marcos, visit the Palace for a meeting with the President. They discuss the recent elections and the political situation. The U.S. envoys call Marcos to retire Ver.
12:45 PM: While Marcos was having his meeting with the U.S. envoys, Capt. Ricardo Morales, one of Imelda Marcos' close-in security and who is a mole of RAM in the PSG, reconnoiters the defenses of the Palace grounds, and took the initiative to withdraw some firearms from the PSG armory. He is arrested and is brought to the office of the Aide-de-camp for interrogation. The others are Maj. Saulito Aromin, Lt. Col. Jake Malajacan and Maj. Ricardo Brillantes.
1:45 PM:
As the meeting came to a close, barely has Amb. Bosworth left the room, Gen. Ver storms into the Presidential study to convey the recent arrest of four officers in the PSG who are found to be members of RAM.
Philip Habib confides as he leaves Malacañang, that "Cory won the election and deserves our support. Marcos is finished, and we ought to offer him asylum in the United States."[5]
2:00 PM: With their plans discovered, Enrile and the RAM officers, had to change their direction. They decided that they need to draw the public support if they are going to storm this crisis out.
2:15 PM: Cory in the rally in Cebu calls for the boycott of Marcos crony-owned business.
3:00 PM: Honasan gives the signal to prepare his men for combat. He, Enrile and Kapunan fly to Aguinaldo in a chopper.
3:30 PM: At Camp Aguinaldo, Enrile's guards bring out brand-new M-16s, Uzis and Galils. Enrile orders troop deployment around Camp Crame.
3:45 PM: Enrile gets through to Cardinal Sin and seeks his moral and active support, as the former felt that he will not survive the day.
4:30 PM: The first military region to go to the rebel side was Regional Unified Command No. 8, which included troops in Mrs. Marcos's own province, Leyte, led by commander, Brig. Gen. Salvador Mison who was in Camp Aguinaldo.
5:00 PM: Unaware of unfolding events, Ver and Imelda attend the wedding of a general's son at Villamor Air Base. Ver is stunned when told. Marcos calls his three children to Malacañang. Enrile tells Sin: “I will be dead within one hour. I don’t want to die … If it is possible, do something. I’d still like to live.”
5:30 PM: Pres. Marcos first response to the mutiny was to call his family to Malacañang.
6:00 PM: Gen. Ramos arrives at Camp Aguinaldo after a dialogue in his Alabang house with a group called the Cory Crusaders.
6:30 PM: Malacañang receives a "report" that Ramos and Enrile were "officially withdrawing their support" of the Marcos administration.
6:45 PM:
Enrile and Ramos, surrounded by their staff and guards hold a press conference at the Social Hall of the GHQAFP, and make the official announcement of their withdrawal of support of the Marcos administration.
Enrile states in his opening that "We are going to die here fighting."[6]
Ramos states "There has become an elite Armed Forces of the Philippines that no longer represents the rank and officers' corps of the Armed Forces. ...The President of 1986 is not the President to whom we dedicated our service. it is clear that he no longer is the able and capable commander-in-chief that we count upon. ... He has put his personal family interest above the interest of the people. We do not consider President Marcos as now being a duly constituted authority."[7]
Enrile adds "I cannot in my conscience recognize the President as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and I am appealing to the other members of the Cabinet to heed the will of the people expressed during the last elections. Because in my own region, I know that we cheated in the elections to the extent of 350,000 votes. ... No, I will not serve under Mrs. Aquino even if she is installed as a president. ... Our loyalty is to the Constitution and the country. ... You are welcome to join us. We have no food..."[8]
Ramos closes "I am not even acting Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. I think that when he made that announcement to you and to the whole world last Sunday, he was just fooling us, and he was fooling the entire world because he flip-flopped so many times already. ... I would like to appeal to the fair and to the dedicated and people-oriented members of the AFP and the INP to join us in this crusade for better government."[8]
7:00 PM:
Cory receives the news of the withdrawal of support by Enrile and Ramos. She calls Manila to verify the report.
Marcos remains in the Palace study room with Fabian and Irwin Ver, and Information Minister Gregorio Cendaña.
8:15 PM:
Gen. Ver orders Brig. Gen. Fidel Singson, Chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) to "Destroy Radio Veritas!"
Unbeknown to Ver, Singson was already in the process of defecting to the rebel group. Singson sends his men to Radio Veritas, not to destroy, but only to reconnoiter the area.
8:30 PM: Cardinal Jaime Sin goes on air and calls the people to "Please, do not be alarmed, stay home."
8:45 PM: The rebel group was taken aback by the Cardinal's announcement and calls him to clarify their request. They asked him to send the people to the camps.
9:00 PM:
Cardinal Sin goes on air once more and says "Leave your homes now ...I ask you to support Mr. Enrile and Gen. Ramos, give them food if you like, they are our friends."
Inquirer co-chairman Betty Go-Belmonte telephoned Member of Parliament Cecilia Muñoz-Palma. Muñoz-Palma immediately made a call to Radio Veritas and was one of the first opposition leaders to express support for the revolution.[9]
Enrile ends a phone conversation with Ver, with both adversaries agreeing not to attack tonight. It was a revolution that started with a ceasefire.
9:30 PM:
Butz Aquino with the August Twenty-One Movement ATOM Executive Committee deliberate on whether to support Enrile and Ramos. The Executive Committee wants to wait on Cory Aquino for instructions. Aquino finally decided to head to Camp Aguinaldo to support the rebels.
Cory Aquino meanwhile is also deciding on what actions to take after receiving the call from ATOM. She requests to speak with Enrile first.
Col. Antonio Sotelo, Commander of the 15th Strike Wing, received a call at his Villamor Air Base office from Col. Hector Tarrazona, who was also a member of RAM, asking the Commander whether he is with them. Col. Sotelo confirms that he supports RAM, and orders his Squadron Commanders to arm their attack helicopters.
10:00 PM:
Radio Veritas continues with the blow-by-blow account of the rebellion.
Enrile and Aquino, who is secured in the Carmelite convent in Cebu City, have a brief phone conversation. (Aquino had known of Enrile's coup plans.
But she returned to Cebu with her vice presidential running mate Doy Laurel to thank the Cebuanos for the 70,000 margin of victory given her “despite the goons of Marcos allies.” Aquino also came to sell her seven-point program of nonviolent protest, which is just a week old, to the second most populous city in the country.)
In Malacañang, Imelda tells reporters of a plot to kill her and Marcos at 12:30 AM.
10:20 PM: August Twenty-One Movement's Butz Aquino, the younger brother of Ninoy Aquino, despite his group's decision to wait, throws his support behind rebels and calls on volunteers to meet him at Isetann department store in Cubao preparatory to marching to EDSA to support the so-called breakaway Marcos military.
10:30 PM:
Marcos announces over government-owned Channel 4 that he is in total control of the situation and calls on Enrile and Ramos “to stop this stupidity and surrender so that we may negotiate.” He reports the thwarting of an attempt on his life by one of Imelda's bodyguards in a conspiracy involving Enrile and Ramos and then proceeds to present the alleged assassin, Morales, who reads a supposed confession.
Nuns and seminarians of Bandila, a moderate coalition, are the first to form human barricade around Camp Crame.
AFP Chief Gen. Fabian Ver gathers his men in Fort Bonifacio and appoints Ramas, his protégé, to lead the assault on Camps Aguinaldo and Crame. Enrile urges Cory Aquino to announce her government, with her as duly elected president.
Sin goes on the air on Radio Veritas to ask Marcos and Ver not to use force.
4:00 AM: In Washington, US Secretary of State George Shultz assembles a small group, including former Ambassador to the Philippines Michael Armacost, to lay down a firm policy on the Philippines.
5:30 AM:
Marcos loyalist troops destroy Radio Veritas’ transmitter in Bulacan province, limiting its reach to Luzon.
Marine commander Gen. Artemio Tadiar is stunned to learn that Ramas, who has little combat experience, has been assigned to lead the attack on rebels. Tadiar and his men are standing guard in Malacañang.
Cory Aquino, still in Cebu City, turns down Assemblyman Ramon Mitra's offer to bring her to Palawan province, and decides to return to Manila.
Mass is celebrated inside Camp Crame.
Outside, at EDSA, people continue to arrive, some on foot. Human barricades are further fortified.
6:00 AM: ATOM leadership and members proceed to EDSA and the military camps after a brief meeting in Cubao district.
7:30 AM: Radio Veritas restarts broadcasts from a backup transmitter as government forces damage the main one in Barangay Dakila, Malolos, Bulacan, plans are made to move operations in Manila.
8:00 AM:
After waiting for three hours for permission to withdraw his troops from Palace, Tadiar shouts at Ramas: “This is insane! I am still waiting for permission to move troops, yet you are ready to move out!”
Marcos orders Col. Antonio Sotelo, commander of the Air Force's 15th Strike Wing based in Sangley Point, to disable the helicopters in Camp Crame. With no one volunteering to carry out the attack, Sotelo discusses with his men a plan to fight alongside the Enrile-Ramos troops.
10:00 AM: Soldiers from the Philippine Army and the Philippine Marine Corps from Fort Bonifacio and other camps began to be deployed in opposition to the rebel forces. Mounted on M35 carrier trucks, LVT-5s, M113s and AIFVs and V150s, they were, that very afternoon, stopped by the massive crowd, nuns and clergy at the front.
11:00 AM: Cory Aquino holds a brief press conference in Cebu, asking the people to support the military rebels and calling on Marcos to step down.
12:00 NN:
Marcos men present at the presidential table include Presidential Executive Assistant Juan C. Tuvera, Agrarian Reform Minister Conrado Estrella, Public Works Minister Jesus Hipolito, Food Administrator Jesus Tanchangco, Agriculture Minister Salvador Escudero III, Education Minister Jaime C. Laya, Member of Parliament Teodulo Natividad, Budget Minister Manuel Alba, MP Salvador Britanico, former Acting Foreign Minister Pacifico Castro, MIA Manager Luis Tabuena, Isabela Gov. Faustino Dy, Information Minister Gregorio Cendaña, Justice Minister Estelito Mendoza, Justice Buenaventura Guerrero, Assistant Press Secretary Amante Bigornia, MP Antonio Raquiza, Economic Planning Minister Vicente Valdepeñas and former Sen. Rodolfo Ganzon. Standing behind them are military men, including General Ver, Rear Adm. Brillante Ochoco, Felix Brawner, Carlos Martel, Juanito Veridiano, Hamilton Dimaya, Eustaquio Purugganan, Telesforo Tayko, Serapio Martillano, Pompeyo Vasquez, Victorino Azada, Arsenio Silva, Evaristo Sanches, Emerson Tangan and Navy Capt. Danilo Lazo.
Marcos joins his men at the table and then appears again on television and presents two more arrested military officers, Lt. Col. Jake Malajacan and Maj. Ricardo Brillantes who both read statements.
Marcos says other officers have been arrested and are being interrogated. He scoffs at Enrile and Ramos’ demand that he resign.
He brushes aside claims that 300,000 to 400,000 people are gathered at EDSA, some carrying images of the Virgin Mary.
1:30 PM: Police forces led by Metropolitan Police Chief Alfredo Lim ignores orders to disperse the crowd assembled.
2:20 PM:
Cory Aquino arrives in Manila and proceeds to her sister's house in Wack-Wack, Mandaluyong.
Enrile and Ramos decide to consolidate their forces at Camp Crame.
Linking arms, the people at EDSA create a protective wall for Enrile and RAM troops as they leave Camp Aguinaldo and cross the highway to get to Crame on the other side.
2:47 PM: A car with tinted windows bearing Cory Aquino cruises alongside a Marcos loyalist column of seven tanks and two Marine battalions led by Tadiar moving on EDSA.
3:00 PM: A PMC armored contingent halts in full view of the crowd along Ortigas Avenue in the Ortigas CBD, Pasig. They would later pull back. Radio Veritas had earlier learned of their planned attack on the camps.
4:00 PM: Marcos calls Enrile and offers him absolute pardon. He rejects Enrile's demand that the tanks be stopped.
6:30 PM: Radio Veritas signs off after the emergency transmitter bogs down. In a news conference, Enrile announces his men's rejection of Marcos’ offer of pardon. Ramos talks about "New Armed Forces".
7:00 PM:
Papal Nuncio Bruno Torpigliani hands Marcos a letter from Pope John Paul II asking for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.
The White House issues a statement questioning "credibility and legitimacy" of the Marcos government.
9:00 PM: General Ramos made a speech to the crowd : "What is happening here is not a Coup d'etat, but a revolution of the people!"
11:30 PM: As Radio Veritas signs off, due to difficulties in electricity, June Keithley and station staff takeover the DZRJ radio headquarters in Santa Mesa, Manila, along Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard, planning to restart transmissions at midnight
12:00 MN: Radio Veritas broadcasts from its new, secret location as "Radyo Bandido" (Outlaw radio) from the DZRJ station building.
1:00 AM:
Church bells ring and word spreads that President Marcos is planning an attack.
People again converge on EDSA; tires are set ablaze and sandbags and rocks are piled up to block the roads to Camp Crame.
3:00 AM: Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Fabian Ver is still unable to locate DZRJ, which is very near Malacañang.
3:30 AM:
At Camp Crame, Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile warns of two oncoming armored personnel carriers (APCs).
Human barricades led by nuns and priests prepare to block the path of the APCs.
4:00 AM:
In Washington, US President Ronald Reagan refuses to personally tell Marcos to step down but agrees to give him asylum.
US Secretary of State George Shultz calls Ambassador Stephen Bosworth in Manila with instructions to tell Marcos “his time is up.”
5:00 AM:
Marcos rejects US stand. Speaking on radio, he vows: “We’ll wipe them out. It is obvious they are committing rebellion.” Ver and the Army commander, Maj. Gen. Josephus Ramas, give go-signal for an all-out attack on EDSA using tear gas, gunships, jet fighters and Marine artillery.
At Camp Crame, AFP Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos calls for civilian reinforcements amid reports that a large loyalist military force is being assembled.
Rebel soldiers tearfully prepare for battle and ask for absolution. They sing the Philippine Military Academy hymn and bid one another farewell.
5:15 AM: First teargas attack on the people by personnel of the Philippine Marines along Santolan Road.
6:00 AM:
Tension rises as helicopters approach Camp Crame. Seven Sikorskys armed with rockets and cannons land inside the camp. These were the helicopters coming from the 15th Strike Wing and these, together several of their helicopter crews defect to the people and the Enrile-Ramos camp upon landing in the grounds of the camp, much to their delight. It would later turn out that Col. Antonio Sotero is a RAM supporter.
Balbas trains awesome firepower on Camp Crame after hearing an exaggerated account of rebel strength from Rodolfo Estrellado of military intelligence. Unknown to Balbas, Estrellado defected to the Enrile-Ramos forces.
Aboard a gunboat, Commodore Tagumpay Jardiniano announces to his 50 officers that he is supporting the Ramos-Enrile forces. Officers rejoice after minutes of silence.
The frigate soon drops anchor in Pasig River with guns trained on Malacañang.
6:30 AM: Keithley announces that Ver and Marcos and his family have fled the country.
7:30 AM:
Triumphant, Enrile and Ramos address ecstatic crowd outside Camp Crame.
Ramos does his famous jump on the PC-INP headquarters in Camp Crame, in full view of the people and the media
Two fighter planes with orders to bomb the camp tilt their wings and head toward Clark Air Base in Pampanga province.
9:00 AM:
To show that they have not fled, Marcos, his family and his generals appear on television.
He announces the lifting of his “maximum tolerance” policy and declares a nationwide state of emergency.
Ramas issues “kill” order to Balbas. In reply, Balbas says he and his men are looking for maps.
9:20 AM: Ramas again orders Balbas to fire. Balbas answers: “Sir, I am still positioning the cannons.”
9:50 AM: As President Marcos makes another TV appearance, MBS Channel 4 is suddenly taken over by reformist soldiers of the AFP and then signs off as its studios and facilities at the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center are captured.
10:15 AM: Rebel soldiers inflict slight damage on Malacañang to indicate their capacity to strike back.
12:00 NN: Three rebel gunships destroy choppers at Villamor Air Base.
12:30 PM: Marines led by Balbas withdraw from Camp Aguinaldo.
1:25 PM: Channel 4 restarts transmissions under the interim name The New TV-4 (until it was officially rebranded as the People's Television Network in April of the same year) with ex-ABS-CBN technicians supervising, within minutes Radio Veritas moves into the complex restarting transmissions.
3:00 PM: With more and more people converging on EDSA and surrounding areas, Singaporean Ambassador Peter Sung offers to fly the Marcoses to his country. Marcos refuses.
4:30 PM:
Ver and Ramas decide to launch final “suicide assault.”
Cory Aquino shows up on makeshift stage in front of the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency office on EDSA and Ortigas Avenue and delivers a brief exhortation to the crowd.
6:00 PM:
In Washington, Reagan agrees to make public call for Marcos’ resignation.
Philippine Airlines chair Roman Cruz Jr. sends his resignation letter to Cory Aquino, making him the first public official to recognize her as the duly elected president.
7:30 PM: The United States endorses Aquino's provisional government.
8:10 PM:
Marcos and his entire family appear on television. He appeals to loyalist civilians to go to Mendiola and calls on people to obey only orders issued by him as the “duly constituted authority.”
He declares a 6 PM to 6 AM curfew. No one observes his curfew.
Enrile calls the people to ignore the curfew citing the country is the country of the free Filipino citizens.
9:00 PM:
A meeting between Aquino and the Ramos-Enrile group ends with a decision that her inauguration as President will be held at Club Filipino in San Juan the following morning.
The rebels want the inauguration to be held at Camp Crame.
11:00 PM:
In Malacañang, the Marcos children's dinner with Chief Justice Ramon Aquino and his son ends. Present are Imee and Irene and their husbands, Tommy Manotoc and Greggy Araneta, and Marcos Jr., who is dressed in fatigues.
Outside, people defy the curfew and continue to roam the streets of Manila.
Marcos loyalist soldiers fire through barbed wire barricades on Nagtahan Street, injuring several people.
Some of Marcoses’ belongings are taken out of Malacañang.
3:30 AM: Marines rejoice as orders to attack Camp Crame are canceled.
3:45 AM:
Airplanes carrying reinforcements ordered by Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Fabian Ver head for Clark Air Base.
The troops stay there for the duration of the revolt.
5:00 AM:
On the phone to Washington, President Marcos asks US Sen. Paul Laxalt if he should resign. Laxalt's reply: “I think you should cut, and cut cleanly. The time has come.”
Marcos tells Labor Minister Blas Ople, who is in Washington lobbying for the Marcos regime, that he is not stepping down because first lady Imelda Marcos does not want him to.
5:15 AM: Marcos gives the go-signal for his family to prepare to leave.
6:00 AM: Rebel soldiers advance towards the Broadcast City complex with hundreds of people with them, accompanied by a rebel S-76 helicopter
8:00 AM: People are called to guard Club Filipino in San Juan in case Marcos attempts to disrupt Aquino's inauguration as president.
10:00 AM: Aquino arrives at Club Filipino. Opposition lawyer Neptali Gonzales reads a resolution proclaiming her and former Sen. Salvador Laurel as duly elected President and Vice President.
Aquino appoints Enrile as Defense Secretary and Ramos as AFP Chief of Staff.
11:45 AM: Marcos enters Malacañang's Ceremonial Hall for his own inauguration.
11:55 AM: Just as President Marcos addresses the crowds at Malacanang Palace, RPN-9, BBC Channel 2 and IBC-13 all sign-off as rebel soldiers capture the Broadcast City complex, transmitters and studios of said stations. The New TV-4 and GMA Network continue airing as usual. The President had just taken what would be his final inauguration oath of office beforehand.
3:45 PM:
Loyalist soldiers try to ram down barricades set up at Tomas Morato and Timog Avenue in Quezon City, but people power prevails.
On Nagtahan, pro-Aquino groups and loyalists coming from Marcos’ inauguration clash.
4:30 PM: Imee Marcos’ husband, Tommy Manotoc, relays the offer of US Brig. Gen. Ted Allen to use American helicopters or boats to move Marcos from the Palace.
5:00 PM:
Marcos calls Enrile again to coordinate his departure from Malacañang.
His aides start packing not only clothes and books but also boxes of money that have been stored in his bedroom since the start of the election campaign. Prime Minister Cesar Virata negotiates Marcos’ departure with Aquino.
6:30 PM: Imee and Irene Marcos plead with their father to leave Malacañang after he tells his remaining men that he has decided to die there.
7:00 PM:
US Ambassador Stephen Bosworth asks Cory Aquino if Marcos can be allowed two days in Paoay, Ilocos Norte province, before heading abroad. To prevent possible regrouping of Marcos loyalists, Aquino refuses.
In Malacañang, luggage are loaded on boats, which proceed to Pangarap golf course across Pasig River where US helicopters are to collect the Marcoses.
7:30 PM: The families of Ver and Eduardo Cojuangco motor to Clark Air Base in Pampanga province.
8:40 PM: A convoy of heavily secured vehicles makes a beeline for Clark.
8:45 PM: The Marcoses and other government officials board helicopters. Some of their possessions are loaded on the choppers.
9:05 PM: President Marcos and his family leave the Malacañang Palace and are now on Clark Air Base, Radio Veritas and The New TV-4 announced the departure. As news of their departure reaches the people, the millions who gathered at EDSA rejoice, since their departure sparks the conclusion of the revolution. Crowds already position along Mendiola Street, Recto Avenue and Legarda Street, having arrived there late in the afternoon to await the departure of the First Family and had already encountered the pro-Marcos crowd at Nagtahan earlier
9:20 PM: Within minutes of the announcement of the departure of the Marcos family, President Aquino makes her first ever live address to the nation as chief executive via Channel 4
9:30 PM: Remaining members of the presidential household and employees begin to pack up and leave the palace complex while the pro-Aquino crowds began to walk to the gates
9:45 PM: Marcos lands in Clark and is met by Bosworth. People in the area welcome him with chants of “Cory! Cory!”
9:52 PM: DZRH announces: The Marcoses have fled the country.
10:00 PM: US Air Force TV station FEN confirms Marcos’ departure.
11:30 PM: Pro-Aquino crowds force the opening of the Malacanang Palace gates, as they open thousands of Aquino supporters and participants of the revolution storm the palace complex with little resistance
