Cardinal Sin: The Voice That Sparked a Peaceful Revolution

The upcoming rallies in Manila and Quezon City on September 21, marking the anniversary of Martial Law, will relive the spirit of Cardinal Jaime Sin’s call during EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986. Just as his voice over Radio Veritas Asia summoned ordinary Filipinos to stand against tyranny, the people today will walk in his legacy, bearing witness to truth, justice, and peace. 

Thirty-nine years after his voice sparked a peaceful revolution, the religious and the people will once again take to the streets, not only to remind the nation of the dark history of martial rule, but also to denounce massive corruption and demand accountability for what Cardinal Jose Advincula, his successor, has called ‘one of the vilest scams in the history of our nation.’

The Filipino people’s march toward freedom during the dark years began when his voice rang out over Radio Veritas Asia on February 22, 1986.

In 1972, the same year Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., father and namesake of the current president, placed the entire Philippines under martial law, Cardinal Sin was appointed coadjutor Archbishop of Jaro.

Shortly after martial law was declared, opposition leaders like Senator Ninoy Aquino and Senator Jose Diokno were arrested and imprisoned. 

Marcos silenced seven television stations, more than 200 radio outlets, and over a dozen national newspapers. 

He issued Proclamation No. 1081, portraying it as the final measure to contain the communist New People’s Army as well as the Moro secessionist groups active in Mindanao at the time.

But many of those jailed under Marcos were neither leftists nor Moro separatists. Among them were Senators Jovito Salonga, Lorenzo Tañada, Soc Rodrigo, as well as ABS-CBN chairman emeritus Eugenio Lopez Sr., and Manila Times publisher Chino Roces.

Under the 1935 Philippine Constitution, a president was limited to two consecutive four-year terms. With his second term nearing its end, Marcos turned to Proclamation No. 1081. Cloaking his move in the language of national security, he cited the threats of communism and Moro secessionism as justification for imposing martial law, a step that allowed him to bypass constitutional limits and stay in power.

Cardinal Sin became the full Archbishop of Jaro in 1973. A year later, in 1974, two years into Marcos’ martial rule, he was installed as Archbishop of Manila, a position that would place him at the very heart of the nation’s struggle for freedom.

He was made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1976, four years after the declaration of martial law.

He openly called on Marcos to end his military rule, a regime blamed for the torture and abuse of 11,103 people, the killing and disappearance of 2,326 others, and the arrest and detention of some 50,000 individuals, among them church workers.

Although Marcos lifted Proclamation 1081 on January 17, 1981, the trappings of dictatorship remained firmly in place, his grip on power unbroken until the people rose in the EDSA Revolution of February 1986.

Ninoy Aquino Jr., Marcos’ foremost political critic, was assassinated on August 21, 1983, at the Manila International Airport, a site later renamed the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to honor his memory.

By October 1983, Marcos admitted the nation was bankrupt, asking creditors for a 90-day moratorium on debt repayments.

On February 9, 1986, a group of computer technicians walked out of the snap election tabulation center, alleging anomalies in the results being reported to the public.  On February 22, 1986, Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Constabulary Chief Fidel Ramos withdrew their support for Marcos. 

At that moment, Cardinal Sin urged the public to rally behind them. Radio Veritas aired his brief speech. Crowds began gathering along EDSA on February 22, joined by priests and nuns. Nuns stood before a tank, holding rosaries to halt its advance.

By February 25, more than two million people had filled the avenue, calling for Marcos to step down, nearly one out of every 28 Filipinos in a nation of 56 million at the time.

To avert a possible military confrontation between pro- and anti-Marcos forces, U.S. President Ronald Reagan, through Senator Paul Laxalt, advised Marcos, who won the 1986 snap election, to “cut, and cut cleanly.” On February 25, Marcos fled with his family to Hawaii, where he died in 1989.

On the same day, Corazon Aquino, widow of Senator Ninoy Aquino and Marcos’ sole rival in the snap election, assumed the presidency, restoring democracy in the Philippines.