Philippines revolution, 1986 - Jessica Paz

Interview 1

I know the first interview person because I am related to her. She used to live in the Philippines, and now she lives in America so she could get better opportunities. Now she is 51 years old. I asked her about what it was like when she lived in the Philippines during the revolution.

What did you think about Ferdinand Marcos and his reign?
Ferdinand Marcos’ reign was pretty good, because he handled a lot of things. But he had people left and right to make sure that everything he wanted was being done. So he liked everything going his way.

How was the economy going when he was president?
The rich were just getting richer and the poor were getting poorer; because everyone who ever gets to be president, would be around the family. Everything stayed within the family/ people they knew.

Did Marcos help the Philippines?
Marcos did help the Philippines, because he did a lot of things to improve. With Marcos in president, he got to keep the American government in the Philippines. And after him, the other presidents wanted to charge more money, which made them leave.

Bad: he didn’t want to give up his presidency. Which made the peoples power get involved.

Did anyone or group try to make Marcos give up his presidency?
The peoples power were trying to fight against him so that he would step down from his position. They held rallies and protests at the Malacañang.

Did you want to/ join any of the protests?
Didn’t want to join any of the protests, because she doesn’t like politics. But still watched it on TV to know what was going on.

Did money play a role in any part of the presidency?
Marcos took a lot of his money when he traveled to other countries, and invested it there.

The power and money corrupted the people in power. It was for their own-selfish needs, not for the whole country. All the presidents would usually do would care about themselves and just be corrupted by their power.

How did you learn about what was going on?
Would hear rumors about the politics everywhere, and would watch TV.

What do you think about the Philippines?
Philippines is already good at corruption, only thinking about how to make themselves better.

Why did you want to move to America?
Reason to move to America is to make a better life. All you money in the PI would go to food and your home; there weren’t a lot of jobs back home.

Did you hear anything about Corazon Aquino?
Heard that Corazon could make the country better because she is a woman. But it seems like not much good/ improvement has happened since she was president. There were improvements, but not too many.

Did Marcos try to do anything to stop the rallies that were going on against him?
Marcos wasn’t able to stop any of the rallies because there were so many people who had already joined them.


Interview 2

My second interview was my Uncle Arturo, and now he is 58. He lived in the Philippines his whole life; but now he is living in the Philippines. I asked him about what it was like living in the Philippines. As well as what he thought about the presidents during the time of the revolution, around 1986. As well as Marcos’ wife, Imelda.

What did you think of Marcos while he was president?
Marcos was a good president before. The only thing that destroyed him was that he lost the trust of the people. He declared martial law, and everyone who went against him would go to jail. Was more of a dictator, not so much of a communist.

What happened when Marcos got sick?
When he got sick, his wife was in charge. But Marcos would sign off all of the papers for her since she was still alive.

What happened during Marcos’ exile?
American Gov. sent Marcos to Hawaii, which made PI very unruly. And US put a replacement president before Aquino was elected.

How was Ferdinand’s wife?
His wife was greedy, which is who destroyed the power of the president. When they would travel, she would spend the people’s taxes and buy a lot of things. She invited foreigners to go to the PI

What did Marcos do to help the Philippines?
He made many developments in the PI.

Why do you think Corazon Aquino became president?
Corazon rose to power because of the death of her husband.

What did you think about Benigno’s death?
Benigno was given an amnesty to go to the US. But if he went back to PI, he would be sent to jail. But went back to PI to face trial.

The military controlled everything, like the security of the airport. It was a hit-man, but it was probably an order from Marcos. It was in the news that Mr. Aquino would be shot.

Who went into power before Aquino?
Joseph Estrada was loved by the low income people. But he was a gambler, drinker and womanizer. He had many wives.

After him there was, Gloria Macapagaeal . June 30
Had enriched themselves, they kept the money to themselves.

What eventually happened with the Aquino family?
The son of the late Aquino, Noynoy Aquino, the only son. Became the new president in the PI.

How was Cory as the president and before she was president?
Corazon was a motherly president. Not bad, and ran the PI. Wasn’t as bad as Marcos and Gloria. They had houses in the other states.

Aquino was rich, they had sugar plantations.

Who do you think was the best president out of all the ones you named?
Best president was probably Cory Aquino. But Marcos did make a lot of improvements.


Interview 3:

My last interview was with my Auntie Nene. She is now 65 years old. I asked her about what she was doing around the time of the revolution. Also what it was like being around all of her young students during such a hard time in their country. As well as what she thought about the presidents and the post revolution.

Do you remember anything in the Philippines from 1986?
The only historical event that I know which happened between the years you mentioned was the 1986 EDSA revolution.

What were you doing at that time period?
At that time, I was still teaching here at Quezon Elementary School. Each one of us was so scared of what was happening in Metro Manila.

What were people doing out on the streets?
Millions of people went out in the streets and soldiers were ready to use violence if the president would give them a go signal.

How was everything? Was there any violence?
But fortunately, it was a very peaceful revolution without bloodshed. This is a proof that Filipinos are still level headed and they love their countrymen.


What were you thinking about during that time?
During those crucial days, I would like to think that everyone prayed for a peaceful solution of the problem created by martial law.

Did you hear anything about Ferdinand leaving the PI?
With the help of God, the occupants of Malacañang Palace (the president and his family) fled the country and headed for Hawaii.

What happened after everything in the revolution?
Others tried to duplicate that event by the successful staging of EDSA II, but this was a smaller one and this time there were no soldiers involved.

How were the presidents after wards? / The transition of presidents?
The President left the palace and there was a smooth transition of power from President Joseph Estrada to President Gloria M. Arroyo.

Did you hope for anything after that revolution? And for the future of the Philippines?
I hope that there won't be a repetition of said events and our incoming president, Benigno Aquino III will really do his best to propel the Philippines to lasting peace and prosperity.