EDSA 3

EDSA 3 was a protest sparked by the arrest in April 2001 of newly deposed Erap. The event still took place in EDSA. 4 months after EDSA 2, the protests were asserted as a more populist and representative uprising compared to the previous demonstrations. The protests and the attack of the presidential palace failed in their objectives. Participants continue to claim that it was a genuine People Power event, a claim disputed by the participants and supporters of Edsa 2. President GMA has acknowledged the diversive nature of the two terminologies by saying in one statement that she hoped to be the president of the Edsa 2 and Edsa 3.



The crowd of an alleged several thousand Filipino people , most of whom were urban poor and devotees of Iglesia in Cristo, gathered at the Edsa Shrine. News organizations aiming to cover the rally were advised to to approach EDSa as there were reports of stones being thrown at cameramen, especially those from ABS-CBN. This protest, however, was led by members of the political opposition of the time: Enrile, Defensor-Santiago, and Sotto III.

The rebellion aimed to remove GMA from presidency and to reinstate Estrada. It was in May 1, 2001, when the rebellion came to a head on the morning of that day. Hundreds of thousands of protesters stormed towards Malacanang Palace. Several broadcast vans of media personnel were attacked by the crowd, the dispersed marchers, causing violence causing the police and military personnel to implement maximum tolerance policy.

Hours after the crowds of Edsa2 were dispersed, representatives of the Archdiocese of Manila and Civil Society supporters of the Arroyo administration reclaimed the Edsa Shrine where there had been alleged acts of vandalism and garbage all over the vicinity. Since the protest was carried out mostly by the lower income, uneducated masses, widespread destruction and vandalism of public utilities and public store fronts along the protest routes at Recto Avenue.



Critics of Edsa 3 argue that while this was major protest, the spirit of it was unlike the first and second protests. Supporters of Edsa 3 journalism allege that Edsa 1 and 2’s participants were made up of the middle and upper classes and thus, not democratically-representative unlike the participants of Edsa 3. Other arguments also point to the success of the first two to remove the presidents targeted, as opposed to the Edsa 3’s failed event.

-CA

EDSA DOS

EDSA DOS, also known as the Edsa Revolution of 2001, is the common name of the four day popular revolution that peacefully overthrew the then President, Joseph “ERAP” Estrada, which took place in January 17-20 2001.

It was in October 2000 when Chavit Singson, Ilocos Sur Governor, went public with accusations that Estrada and his friends and cronies received millions of pesos from operations of the illegal numbers game called jueteng. And this prompted rage from the public.

The next day, Senate Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona Jr. delivered a fiery privilege speech accusing Estrada of receiving P220M in jueteng money from Singson from November 1998-August 2000, besides taking P70M on excise tax on cigarettes for Ilocos Sur. The privilege speech was referred by Senate President Franklin Drilon, to the Blue Ribbon Committee and the Committee on Justice for joint investigation. Another committee in the House of Representatives decided to investigate the expose, while other house members spearheaded a move to impeach the president.



On January 17, 2001, the impeachment trial of President Estrada moved to the investigation of an envelope with an evidence that would prove acts of political corruption by Estrada. Senators allied with Estrada voted to block the evidence and after the vote took place, with not opening the envelope favored, Aquilino Pimentel resigned as Senate President and walked out, followed by the 9 opposition senators.

The walk out and the voting outcome prompted the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to withdraw support for Estrada, joining the crowds at the Edsa Shrine 2 days later. At 2 pm that day, Estrada appeared on television the first time stating that he will not resign, rather, he wants the impeachment trial to continue, stressing that only a guilty verdict will prompt him to resign from his office.



Shortly after, Erap called for a snap presidential election to be held with congressional and local election on May 14, 2001. GMA then takes her oath of office in the presence of the crowd at EDSA, becoming the 14th woman president of the Philippines. At 2pm , Erap released a letter saying he had strong and serious doubts of the legality of her presidency, but said he would give up his office to avoid being an obstacle to healing the nation. Later, Erap finally conceded and his family leave Malacanang Palace, and was placed on house arrest.

-CA