February 25, 1986: Ferdinand Marcos Is Deposed

February 25, 1986, 40 years ago: The "People Power Revolution" comes to the Philippines, ending the 20-year dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos.

Born in 1917, Marcos was one of the Filipinos taken prisoner by the Japanese during World War II, but was released after 4 months. The reason is not clear. He later claimed to be "the most decorated war hero in the Philippines," but most of those decorations were found to have been granted many years thereafter -- by himself, once in power. (Similarly, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was awarded his country's highest honor, "Hero of the Soviet Union," for his 60th birthday, and he awarded himself the honor 3 more times, even though his military service was not especially noteworthy.)

He became a lawyer, and served in each house of the national legislature, before getting elected President in 1965. He managed to grow the economy for much of the Pacific island nation, but also left great poverty and great repression.

In 1972, a series of bombings added to the difficulties he would have in getting elected to a 3rd term. They may have been "false flags," his own "Reichstag Fire": He imposed martial law, and revised the Constitution to make it easier for him to do what he wanted. Freedom of the press came to an end under his rule.

At this time, he had Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, the leader of the opposition, arrested. He released Aquino in 1980, so he could travel to America for medical treatment. On August 21, 1983, knowing he could be arrested, or even killed, upon his arrival, Aquino flew back to his homeland. Sure enough, as soon as he set foot on the tarmac at Manila International Airport, he was shot and killed by soldiers, a brazen assassination. Even President Ronald Reagan, who supported Marcos because he was a strong anti-Communist, began to back away from supporting him.

In 1985, the national Assembly attempted to impeach Marcos -- not for the assassination of Senator Aquino, but for corruption. The impeachment drive failed. Also failing was Marcos' health: He had lupus, underwent a kidney transplant that failed, and underwent a second transplant that worked. His wife Imelda Marcos began to be seen as his public spokesperson. People who hated him now hated her, too.

So, in spite of having another year left in his term, he called a snap election for February 7, 1986. The opposition nominated Corazon Aquino, Ninoy's widow, for President. The Commission On Elections (COMELEC) ruled that Marcos had won, with 53.7 percent of the vote. However, the National Movement for Free Elections said that Aquino had won, with 52.5 percent. Fraud was alleged -- by both sides.

Who was right? The answer came when 35 COMELEC computer technicians issued a statement, saying that the official results were manipulated to favor Marcos. Some Marcos allies defected to the opposition, including one man who said an assassination attempt against him was a fake, an attempt to generate sympathy for the ruling regime.

Demonstrations were held all over the country. On February 25, Mrs. Aquino participated in a non-binding inauguration ceremony. It was clear that, even if Marcos had rightly won the election, he couldn't win one now: The country wanted him gone.

Marcos telephoned Senator Paul Laxalt of Nevada, a close friend and ally of President Reagan, who advised him, "Cut, and cut cleanly." With the U.S. military still having a presence in the country, over 40 years after World War II, Marcos made a deal, and the U.S. Air Force took him to Guam, and then to Hawaii.

Mrs. Aquino was officially sworn in as President, and at the end of the year, Time magazine would name her its Person of the Year. She would eventually face counter-coups that would fail. After she left office in 1992 -- constitutionally and willingly -- the airport where her husband was assassinated was renamed for him: She died in 2009. Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Their son, Benigno Aquino III, a.k.a. Noynoy, served as President from 2010 to 2016.

Stories of the Marcoses' luxurious habits leaked out of both Manila and their home-in-exile in Hawaii. Particularly grabbing people's attention, on both sides of the Pacific, were Imelda's collection of thousands of shoes. They began to look like an Asian version of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. In fact, the Bakkers were amateurs compared to the Marcoses: Jim convinced his followers to give to him, while Marcos looted an entire country.

He died in 1989. Imelda was allowed to return to the Philippines, and reinter her husband's remains there. As of February 25, 2026, she is still alive, 96 years old.

Currently, the country's Constitution limits the President to one term, so Rodrigo Duterte, who was an even more oppressive leader than Marcos was, had to leave office. So the Marcoses' son, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a.k.a. Bongbong Marcos, ran in the 2022 election, and won, with Sara Duterte, the outgoing President's daughter, as Vice President. A Marcos daughter, Imee Marcos, now serves in the Senate.

October 1, 1975: The Thrilla In Manila

October 1, 1975, 50 years ago: Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali fights former Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier for the 3rd time, at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, the capital of the Philippines. Quezon City is the national capital, and the arena is located about 5 miles east of the country's largest city, Manila.

Ali, under his birth name Cassius Clay, was an Olympic Gold Medalist in boxing, in 1960 in Rome. Frazier was as well, in 1964 in Tokyo. A man they would both memorably fight, George Foreman, followed them, in 1968 in Mexico City.

Ali first won the title in 1964 by knocking out Sonny Liston. He held it until he was stripped of it in 1967, for refusing to accept the U.S. military draft. Foreman won what was essentially a tournament for the title, ending in 1970 with a win over top contender Jimmy Ellis.

Ali got his conviction overturned by the Supreme Court, and his boxing license restored -- but not his title. That, he would have to win back. When he and Frazier met for "The Fight of the Century" at Madison Square Garden in 1971, it was the 1st time 2 undefeated Heavyweight Champions had ever met in the ring. It was a hard, even fight until the 15th and final round, when a classic Philly left hook floored the Louisvillian, and Ali received his first-ever knockdown, from which he got up to finish the fight, and his first-ever professional loss.

Ali got revenge in 1974, also at The Garden, although neither man was champion at the time. Frazier had lost the title in 1973 to Foreman, whom Ali subsequently beat to regain the title in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), the fight known as "The Rumble In the Jungle."

Ali mocked Frazier for his fighting ability and his looks, saying, "It'll be a thrilla and a chilla and a killa, when I get the Gorilla in Manila!"

Araneta Coliseum

But it was intensely hot inside the Coliseum when "The Thrilla In Manila" was fought. Still, like the other 2 Ali-Frazier fights, it lived up to the hype. Ali led in the early rounds, but in the 5th round, Frazier began to turn the tide. At the end of the 6th, Ali, who'd been trash-talking (as we would say today) all the way, yelled, "They told me Joe Frazier was washed up!" Frazier yelled back, "They lied!"

Ali won the 8th round, but Frazier clobbered him in the 9th, leading him to go back to his corner and tell his trainer, Angelo Dundee, "Man, this is the closest I've ever been to dying." But Ali had landed so many punches that Frazier's face was swelling, and he was having trouble seeing.

Early in the 13th round, Ali hit Frazier in the jaw with a thunderous right hook, sending Frazier's mouthpiece flying out of his mouth and out of the ring. Ali dominated the 14th as well, because Frazier was too tired and having too much difficulty seeing. Ali was hitting Frazier with the same kind of punches that knocked out Foreman a year earlier. Except, when Ali knocked Foreman out, it took just a few seconds. He had been throwing these things at Frazier for the last 2 rounds, and Frazier simply would not go down.

Frazier had more courage and endurance than sense, and refused to go down, and refused to quit. As the 15th and final round approached, Frazier wanted to continue. His trainer, Eddie Futch, told him that he was going to stop the fight. Frazier said no: "I want him, boss." He was unable to talk Futch out of it: "The fight's over, Joe. No one will forget what you did here today." And he told the referee, Carlos Padilla, to stop the fight. Padilla did so.

Ali retained the crown, the belt, the title, whatever you want to call it. He got up off his stool, raised his right arm in victory... and collapsed. He had nothing left to give. If Futch had let Frazier fight the 15th round, he would have knocked Ali out.

It's been called the greatest prizefight in history. Today, most people know the name Manila for 3 things: The brown office folders that bear its name, its role in the Pacific Theater of World War II, and Ali-Frazier III.

Howard Cosell, who covered the fight for ABC Wide World of Sports, later said, "A big piece of Ali remained in that ring." Indeed, at age 33, with nothing left to prove, Ali probably should have retired right there. Instead, he kept fighting for 6 more years. So did Frazier. Both men would have their moments, but neither was ever so good again.

"The Greatest of All Time" developed Parkinson's disease as a result of his taking so many blows to the head. The big mouth that got him the early nickname "The Louisville Lip" was rendered mostly silent by the turn of the 21st Century. He died on June 3, 2016, at age 74.

"Smokin' Joe" would continue to feud with Ali and reconcile with him, restart the feud, and reconcile again. Joe died of liver cancer on November 7, 2011, at age 67, after 30 years of training fighters at his gym in North Philadelphia.

One of the fighters he trained was his son Marvis, who, like Ali on that awful night in 1980, would get slaughtered by Larry Holmes in Las Vegas. His daughter Jackie Frazier-Lyde also fought professionally, as has Ali's daughter Laila Ali. (She went 24-0 with 21 knockouts, and won a majority decision against Frazier-Lyde in Verona, New York in 2001.) Another daughter of Ali's, Maryum, is a rapper using the name May May.

Opened in 1960, the Araneta Coliseum is still used for sporting events and concerts. A shopping center 2 blocks away is named Ali Mall.