1969 Ferdinand Marcos is elected President for a second term.
1970 January. Demonstrations against Marcos, perceived to be angling for a third term, culminate in the "First Quarter Storm." Militant students, farmers, and workers picket Malacañang Palace and are violently dispersed by military troopers.
1972 September 22. Marcos declares martial law. Congress is closed, the Constitutional Convention suspended, and media muzzled.
1972 September 23, Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, a member of the opposition in government, is arrested and detained, along with other "subversive" oppositionists.
1983 August Ninoy Aquino returns from exile in the United States and is murdered as he steps off the plane at the Manila International Airport. His funeral draws millions of Filipinos to the streets in defiance.
1985 November. Due to pressure from the American government and political and economic crisis at home, Marcos declares on American television that he will run in a snap presidential election. Ninoy Aquino’s widow, Cory Aquino, is presented with more than a million signatures drafting her as presidential contender.
1986 February 7. Election Day. 400,000 volunteers are mobilized to monitor voting, and guard against fraud. Despite these efforts, there are widespread reports of violence and tampering of election results.
February 15. Marcos is formally declared winner of the February 7 elections. All 50 opposition Members of Parliament walk out in protest.
February 16. At a "victory rally," Corazon Aquino calls for coordinated strikes and the boycott of crony media, banks, and corporations in a civil disobedience campaign aimed at toppling Marcos from power.
February 22. Minister of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile and the Vice Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos announce their withdrawal of support from Marcos. Anticipating an attack from Marcos troops Enrile, Ramos and a few hundred rebel soldiers barricade themselves in two military camps alongside EDSA Avenue. People begin to gather around the camps. A few hours later, Catholic Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, a long-time supporter of the Marcos regime, exhorts Filipinos to come to the aid of the rebels by going to EDSA.
February 23 - 25. A contingent of Marines with tanks and armored vans headed for the rebel camps are stopped by hundreds of thousands of people who have come into the streets in protest. The troops are forced to retreat. Members of the Armed Forces begin to switch sides.
February 25 Cory Aquino is inaugurated as President of the Philippines in a ceremony at Club Filipino. On the Palace balcony, Marcos takes his oath as President of the Philippines. A few hours later, the Marcos family and their close associates hurriedly leave the Palace, and are transported by American Helicopters to Hawaii, ending over 20 years of Marcos rule.
