THE ARMED FORCES MOVEMENT
“...Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Fidel Ramos who that afternoon broke away from the Marcos regime” (Ortiz, 1986)
Leaders of the Armed Forces of the Philippines shifted from supporting Marcos to siding with the people as a result of his changing political values.
“The armed forces were a key pillar propping up Marcos’ dictatorship, detaining and repressing those who threatened his grip on power. Officers were promoted, dismissed, and reshuffled in accordance with their loyalty to Marcos...[so] a dissatisfied military faction formed the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM)” (Fefer).
- Adam Fefer, political scientist
Key leaders in the Reformed Armed Forces, including Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and General Fidel V. Ramos, planned a coup against Marcos.
Around February 20, “President Marcos learned of the plot and ordered the arrest of the coup leaders...General Ramos and Minister Enrile decamped to Camp Aguinaldo with RAM” (The FVR Legacy).
RAM leaders commented on their reason for leaving in a press conference on Feb. 22, 1986:
(Juan Ponce Enrile, a Political Power in the Philippines)
(Former President Fidel Valdez Ramos, 12th President of the Republic of the
Philippines, c.1990)
“under the Constitution, powers of government are supposed to emanate from the sovereign will of our people, and yet, we do not respect the will of our people” (“Extract of the Transcript of Press Conference: Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Deputy Chief of Staff Fidel V. Ramos on various matters”).
- Defense Minister Enrile
“the Armed Forces of the Philippines has ceased to be the real Armed Forces of the Philippines which is supposed to be the defender of public safety and enforcer of the law” (“Extract of the Transcript of Press Conference: Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Deputy Chief of Staff Fidel V. Ramos on various matters”).
- General Ramos
“‘the President of 1986 is not the same President that we used to know…he has put his personal interest…ahead of the national interest’” (The FVR Legacy).
- General Ramos
"Former AFP vice chief of staff Fidel Ramos and former defense minister Juan Ponce Enrile held a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo to announce their withdrawal of support from President Marcos" (Enrile and Ramos at Aguinaldo).
Marcos’s corruption was at its apex, with former military and government officials openly opposing him.
