Second EDSA Revolution

EDSA is an acronym derived from Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, the major thoroughfare connecting six cities in Metro Manila, namely Pasay, Makati, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Quezon City and Caloocan. The revolution's epicenter was the EDSA Shrine church at the northern tip of the Ortigas Center business district.

On October 4, 2000, Ilocos Sur Governor Luis "Chavit" Singson, a longtime friend of President Joseph Estrada, went public with accusations that Estrada and his friends and family had received millions of pesos from operations of jueteng, a numbers game which is illegal in the Philippines.{{cite web|date=March 2, 2001|title=Estrada vs Desierto: 146710-15 : March 2, 2001 : J. Puno : En Banc|url=http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2001/mar2001/146710_15.htm|access-date=February 18, 2013|publisher=Supreme Court of the Philippines}}

The exposé immediately ignited reactions of rage. The next day, Senate Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona, Jr. delivered a fiery privilege speech accusing Estrada of receiving ₱220 million in jueteng money from Governor Singson from November 1998 to August 2000, as well as taking ₱70 million-worth of excise tax money from cigarettes intended for Ilocos Sur. He also allegedly received ₱130 million in kickbacks released by then budget secretary Benjamin Diokno for tobacco farmers,{{Cite news|title=Fast Facts: Estrada Impeachment Trial|language=en|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/128607/fast-facts-estrada-impeachment-trial|access-date=April 27, 2018}} while his wife Loi Ejercito's foundation allegedly received ₱100 million "to the detriment of regular beneficiaries."{{Cite web|last=Rufo|first=Aries|date=October 31, 2001|title=Everyone's Cash Cow|url=http://archives.newsbreak-knowledge.ph/2001/10/31/everyones-cash-cow/|access-date=April 27, 2018|website=Newsbreak|language=en-US}} Estrada was also accused of misusing 52 smuggled luxury vehicles, nepotism,{{Cite news|last=Danao|first=Efren|date=February 22, 2001|title=Probe of Estrada to continue|work=The Philippine Star|url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2001/02/22/89813/probe-estrada-continue|access-date=April 27, 2018}} and he allegedly hid assets and bought mansions for his mistresses.{{Cite web|last=Sturcke|first=James|date=September 12, 2007|title=Estrada given life sentence for corruption|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/sep/12/philippines|access-date=April 27, 2018|website=the Guardian|language=en}} The privilege speech was referred by Senate President Franklin Drilon, to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and the Philippine House Committee on Justice for joint investigation. Another committee in the House of Representatives decided to investigate the exposé, while other House members spearheaded a move to impeach the president. On October 20, 2000, an early anti-Estrada rally was allegedly held in Naga City, led by former mayor Jesse Robredo, Mayor Sulpicio Roco Jr., and Ateneo de Naga president Joel Tabora who demanded the resignation of President Estrada.{{cite news|last=Olivares-Cunanan|first=Belinda|title=How could it have been 'mob rule'?|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=I342AAAAIBAJ&sjid=hCUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1438%2C25205484|access-date=January 27, 2023|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|publisher=The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc.|date=February 22, 2001|page=A9}}

More calls for resignation came from Manila Cardinal Archbishop Jaime Sin, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos, and Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (who had resigned her cabinet position of Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development). Cardinal Sin's statement read, "In the light of the scandals that besmirched the image of presidency, in the last two years, we stand by our conviction that he has lost the moral authority to govern."Amando Doronila, The Fall of Joseph Estrada, 2001, p. 83 More resignations came from Estrada's cabinet and economic advisers, and other members of congress defected from his ruling party.

On November 13, 2000, the House of Representatives led by Speaker Manuel Villar transmitted the Articles of Impeachment, signed by 115 representatives, to the Senate. This caused shakeups in the leadership of both houses of congress. The impeachment trial was formally opened on November 20, with twenty-one senators taking their oaths as judges, and Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. presiding. The trial began on December 7.

The day-to-day trial was covered on live television and received the highest viewing rating, mostly by the broadcasting giant ABS-CBN at the time. Among the highlights of the trial was the testimony of Clarissa Ocampo, senior vice president of Equitable PCI Bank, who testified that she was one foot away from Estrada when he signed the name "Jose Velarde" on documents involving a ₱500 million investment agreement with their bank in February 2000.

On January 16, 2001, the impeachment trial of President Estrada moved to the investigation of an envelope containing crucial evidence that would allegedly prove acts of political corruption by Estrada. Senators allied with Estrada moved to block the evidence. The conflict between the senator-judges and the prosecution became deeper, but then-Senate Majority Floor Leader Francisco Tatad requested that the impeachment court have a vote on opening the second envelope. The vote resulted in 10 senators in favor of examining the evidence, and 11 senators in favor of suppressing it. The list of senators who voted for the second envelope are as follows:

1. Rodolfo Biazon
2. Renato Cayetano
3. Franklin Drilon
4. Juan Flavier
5. Teofisto Guingona Jr.
6. Loren Legarda
7. Ramon Magsaysay Jr.
8. Sergio Osmeña III
9. Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
10. Raul Roco

1. Tessie Aquino-Oreta
2. Nikki Coseteng
3. Miriam Defensor Santiago
4. Juan Ponce Enrile
5. Gringo Honasan
6. Robert Jaworski
7. Blas Ople
8. John Henry Osmeña
9. Ramon Revilla Sr.
10. Tito Sotto
11. Francisco Tatad

After the vote, Senator Nene Pimentel resigned as Senate President and walked out of the impeachment proceedings together with the nine opposition senators and 11 prosecutors in the Estrada impeachment trial. The 11 administration senators who voted to block the opening of the second envelope remained in the Senate session hall together with members of the defense panel. The phrase "Joe's Cohorts" quickly surfaced as a mnemonic device for remembering their names (Joe's Cohorts: Jaworski, Oreta, Enrile, Santiago, Coseteng, Osmeña, Honasan, Ople, Revilla, Tatad, Sotto).[http://www.apmforum.com/columns/orientseas26.htm Armageddon Averted: People Power 2001] (January 2001), [http://www.apmforum.com/ Asian Business Strategy and Street Intelligence Ezine]. On February 14, 2001, at the initiative of Pimentel, the second envelope was opened before the local and foreign media. It contained the document that stated that businessman Jaime Dichaves and not Estrada owned the "Jose Velarde" account.{{cite news| url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-29648010_ITM | work=Asia Africa Intelligence Wire | title=Dichavez owned bank account, says Pimentel | date=May 31, 2005}}{{cite news|url=http://www.gmanews.tv/erapplundertrial/story/127550/BIR-wants-Erap-to-pay-P29B-tax-Estrada-cries-harassment |title=Erap Plunder Trial - BIR wants Erap to pay P2.9B tax; Estrada cries harassment |work=GMA News|date=2008-10-16 |access-date=August 24, 2013}}'

Senator Tessie Aquino-Oreta, one of eleven senators who voted against opening the envelope, was seen on national television as the opposition walked out; it was assumed that she was booing back and jigging at the crowd in the Senate gallery after the Ayala group jeered her and other pro-Erap senators.{{cite news |title=Paano nagsimula ang EDSA Dos noong Enero 2001 |url=https://web.facebook.com/dzmmteleradyo/videos/333762931951445/ |access-date=30 January 2022 |work=DZMM TeleRadyo |publisher=Facebook}}{{Cite web |title=Tessie learns her lesson: Act senatorial at all times |url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2002/01/20/147727/tessie-learns-her-lesson-act-senatorial-all-times |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=www.philstar.com |language=en-US}} This further fueled the growing anti-Erap sentiments of the crowd gathered at EDSA Shrine, and she became the most vilified of the 11 senators. She was labeled a "prostitute" and a "concubine" of Estrada for her dancing act, while Senator Defensor-Santiago was also ridiculed by the crowd who branded her a "lunatic".

As he did in the EDSA I protest, Cardinal Jaime Sin called on the people to join the rally at the shrine. During the night, people began to gather in large numbers around the shrine, including protesters who received free transportation from nearby provinces such as Pampanga and Bulacan. Similar anti-Estrada rallies took place in regional centers nationwide, including Baguio, Naga, Iloilo City, and Davao.{{Cite news |date=January 18, 2001 |title='Shameless' vote disgusts folks |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=83UE6yvegO4C&dat=20010118&printsec=frontpage&hl=en&google_abuse=GOOGLE_ABUSE_EXEMPTION%3DID%3D30b988a383f0bf4e:TM%3D1720329379:C%3Dr:IP%3D175.176.18.4-:S%3Dywp0X4wx-t1nwGiFinfUDMM%3B+path%3D/%3B+domain%3Dgoogle.com%3B+expires%3DSun,+07-Jul-2024+08:16:19+GMT |access-date=July 7, 2024 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |pages=4}}

The crowd continued to grow, bolstered by students from private schools and left-wing organizations. Activists from Bayan Muna and Akbayan as well as lawyers of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and other bar associations joined the thousands of protesters. A 10-kilometer human chain was formed from the Ninoy Aquino statue in Ayala Avenue, Makati to the EDSA Shrine as a demand for Estrada's resignation.{{Cite news |title=1M to march on Palace |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=83UE6yvegO4C&dat=20010119&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |access-date=July 7, 2024 |newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer |pages=1, 18}}{{Cite web |last1=Araneta |first1=Sandy |last2=Crisostomo |first2=Sheila |date=January 19, 2001 |title=EDSA protesters form human chain |url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2001/01/19/89477/edsa-protesters-form-human-chain |access-date=2024-07-07 |website=The Philippine Star}} At the shrine area, just as in 1986, stars and icons from the music industry entertained the crowds.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024|reason=No explicit statement on such an event}}

The Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines withdrew their support for Estrada, joining the crowds at the EDSA Shrine.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jan/20/johnaglionby1|title=Filipinos rally to oust the president|date=January 19, 2001|website=The Guardian}}

At 2:00 PM, Joseph Estrada appeared on television for the first time since the beginning of the protests and maintained that he would not resign. He said he wanted the impeachment trial to continue, stressing that only a guilty verdict would remove him from office.

At 6:15 PM, Estrada again appeared on television, calling for a snap presidential election to be held concurrently with congressional and local elections on May 14, 2001. He added that he would not run in this election.

File:2001 Oath Taking of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, 14th President of the Republic of the Philippines - January 20.webm

At 12:30 in the afternoon, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took her oath of office as president before Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. in the presence of the crowd at EDSA.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jan/21/philippines|title=Estrada to stand trial for plunder|date=January 20, 2001|website=The Guardian}} At the same time, however, a large anti-Estrada crowd had already gathered at the historic Mendiola Bridge, having left the shrine earlier in the day, only to face PNP personnel and the pro-Estrada supporters behind them, who had by now already attacked both the police and the anti-Estrada protesters and heckling them and even members of the press.

At 2:00 PM, Estrada released a letter saying he had "strong and serious doubts about the legality and constitutionality of her proclamation as president".{{cite book |author=Dirk J. Barreveld |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K-vfMSL4h-kC |title=Philippine President Estrada Impeached!: How the President of the World's 13th Most Populous Country Stumbles Over His Mistresses, a Chinese Conspiracy and the Garbage of His Capital |publisher=iUniverse |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-595-18437-8 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=K-vfMSL4h-kC&pg=PA476 476]}} In that same letter, however, he said he would give up his office to allow for national reconciliation.

Later, Estrada and his family evacuated Malacañang Palace on a boat along the Pasig River. They were smiling and waving to reporters and shaking hands with the remaining Cabinet members and palace employees. He was initially placed under house arrest in San Juan but was later transferred to his rest home in Sampaloc, a small village in Tanay, Rizal.

{{See also|EDSA III}}

On the last day of protests on EDSA on January 20, 2001, Estrada left his office as president without issuing a formal resignation. Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was thus sworn into office by Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide Jr.{{Cite news|url=http://opinion.inquirer.net/92289/sc-arroyo-takeover-constitutional|title=SC: Arroyo takeover constitutional|last=Panganiban|first=Artemio V.|date=January 24, 2016|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|access-date=April 27, 2018|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/01/27/1417225/erap-resigned-president-cant-run-again-lawyer|title=Erap resigned as president, can't run again — lawyer|last=Diaz|first=Jess|date=January 27, 2015|work=The Philippine Star|access-date=April 27, 2018}} Among those who opposed Arroyo's succession of Estrada as president was Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, who vehemently argued that Arroyo's administration was illegitimate under the constitution due to the lack of a formal resignation from president Estrada.{{cite news|last1=Avendaño|first1=Christine|last2=Cueto|first2=Donna S.|last3=Ubac|first3=Michael Lim|last4=Bordadora|first4=Norman|last5=Herrera|first5=Christine|last6=Rivera|first6=Blanche|title=Erap out, Gloria in: New President vows leadership by example.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pn42AAAAIBAJ|access-date=March 26, 2024|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|publisher=The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc.|date=January 21, 2001|page=1|quote=The new President, the country's 14th said she decided to take her oath even without Estrada's formal resignation after being informed by [Hilario] Davide [Jr.] that her succession was legal.}}{{cite news|last=Avendaño|first=Christine|title=2 senators hit Lee comment on Edsa 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QX42AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2|access-date=March 26, 2024|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|publisher=The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inc.|date=January 24, 2001|page=2|quote=Santiago said Macapagal's succession climaxed by her oath-taking at the Edsa Shrine, was illegal under the present Constitution[...]}}

On March 2, 2001, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Estrada's ouster without resignation in a unanimous 13-0 decision in Estrada vs. Desierto.{{Cite web|last=Panganiban|first=Artemio V.|date=January 17, 2016|title=Constitutionality of Edsa 1 and Edsa 2|url=https://opinion.inquirer.net/92100/constitutionality-of-edsa-1-and-edsa-2|access-date=February 27, 2022|website=Inquirer|language=en}}

In the days after Estrada and his son Jinggoy were arrested for plunder in their home on April 25, 2001, several rallies were held along EDSA by his supporters and congressional allies calling for both his release and the removal of Arroyo as president, culminating in the rallyists heading to Malacañang on May 1 and attempting to storm the government premises.

On September 12, 2007, Estrada was found guilty of plunder beyond reasonable doubt by the Philippine anti-graft court and sentenced to life imprisonment.{{Cite news|url=http://globalnation.inquirer.net/84269/estradas-plunder-conviction-remembered|title=Estrada's plunder conviction remembered|last=Rodis|first=Rodel|date=August 28, 2013|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|access-date=April 27, 2018|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/60117/erap-guilty-of-plunder-sentenced-to-reclusion-perpetua/story/|title=Erap guilty of plunder, sentenced to reclusion perpetua|date=September 12, 2007|work=GMA News|access-date=April 27, 2018|language=en-US}} He was pardoned by Macapagal-Arroyo on October 25, 2007.{{Cite news|url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-philippines-estrada-idUKMNB0007120071025|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201026035351/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-philippines-estrada-idUKMNB0007120071025|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 26, 2020|title=Former Philippine president Estrada pardoned|last=Mogato|first=Manny|date=October 25, 2007|work=Reuters|access-date=April 27, 2018|language=en-GB}}

International reaction to the administration change was mixed. While some foreign nations, including the United States, immediately recognized the legitimacy of Arroyo's presidency, foreign commentators described the revolt as "a defeat for due process of law", "mob rule", and a "de facto coup".Mydans, Seth. [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/05/world/people-power-ii-doesn-t-give-filipinos-the-same-glow.html 'People Power II' Doesn't Give Filipinos the Same Glow]. February 5, 2001. The New York Times. The only means of legitimizing the event was the last-minute Supreme Court ruling that "the welfare of the people is the supreme law."{{cite news|date=January 21, 2001|title=SC: People's welfare is the supreme law|work=The Philippine Star|url=http://www.philstar.com/headlines/89502/sc-people%C3%A3%C2%A2%C3%A2%E2%80%9A%C2%AC%C3%A2%E2%80%9E%C2%A2s-welfare-supreme-law|access-date=February 18, 2013}} But by then, the Armed Forces of the Philippines had already withdrawn support for the president, which some analysts called unconstitutional, a view shared by many foreign political analysts. William Overholt, a Hong Kong-based political economist, said that "It is either being called mob rule or mob rule as a cover for a well-planned coup, but either way, it's not democracy."

Opinion was divided during EDSA II about whether Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as the incumbent vice president should be president if Joseph Estrada was ousted; many groups who participated in EDSA II expressly stated that they did not want Arroyo for president either, and some of these groups would later participate in EDSA III. The prevailing Constitution of the Philippines calls for the Vice President of the Philippines, Arroyo at the time, to act as interim president only when the sitting president dies, resigns, or becomes incapacitated. Estrada had resigned from office and the constitutionality of his resignation was upheld by the Supreme Court on March 2, 2001.

After Estrada's plunder conviction and subsequent pardon, on January 18, 2008, Estrada's Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) bought full-page advertisements in Metro Manila newspapers, blaming EDSA 2 for having "inflicted a dent on Philippine democracy". It featured clippings that questioned the constitutionality of the revolution. The published featured clippings were taken from Time, The New York Times, The Straits Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Asia Times Online, The Economist, and International Herald Tribune. Former Supreme Court justice Cecilia Muñoz Palma opined that EDSA 2 violated the 1987 Constitution.{{cite news |url=http://www.gmanews.tv/story/76974/Eraps-PMP-questions-EDSA-2-constitutionality |title=GMA NEWS.TV, Erap's PMP questions EDSA 2 constitutionality |work=GMA News|date=January 18, 2008 |access-date=August 24, 2013}}

In February 2008, several parts of the Catholic Church, which played a vital role during EDSA II, issued an apology of sorts. The sitting Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president, Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, expressed disappointment in Arroyo's presidency and called EDSA II a mistake.{{cite news|url=http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20080220hed1.html|title=Edsa II a mistake, says CBCP head|author=Ayen Infante|date=February 20, 2008|newspaper=The Daily Tribune|location=Philippines|access-date=June 18, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080423112807/http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20080220hed1.html|archive-date=April 23, 2008}}

On March 13, 2008, Estrada named Lucio Tan, Jaime Sin, Fidel Ramos, Chavit Singson, and the Ayala and Lopez clans (who were both involved in water businesses) as co-conspirators of the EDSA Revolution of 2001.{{cite news|url=http://www.gmanews.tv/story/84514/7-years-after-ouster-Erap-bares-5-conspirators|title=GMA NEWS.TV, 7 years after ouster, Erap bares 5 conspirators |work=GMA News|date=2008-03-12 |access-date=August 24, 2013}}

In October 2016, Estrada claimed without evidence that it was the U.S. that ousted him from office.{{cite web|url=http://thestandard.com.ph/news/-main-stories/top-stories/219537/duterte-is-right-estrada-insists.html|title=Manila Standard, Duterte is right, Estrada insists |work=Manila Standard }}

• People Power Revolution - a similar event in the Philippines that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos
• 2001 Philippine general election
• People Power Coalition

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|author1=Greg Hutchinson|author2=Ellen Tordesillas|title=Hot money, warm bodies: the downfall of President Joseph Estrada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vLEMAQAAMAAJ|year=2001|publisher=Anvil Publishing|isbn=978-971-27-1104-6}}

• [http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ASIANOW/southeast/01/20/philippines.estrada.02/ CNN.com - Arroyo sworn in as president of Philippines - January 21, 2001]
• [http://members.tripod.com/twist14/edsa2/thestory.html The Story of EDSA II: Why Erap Failed]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20091027085722/http://geocities.com/benign0/agr-disagr/12-3-nyt.html The New York Times - Expecting Praise, Filipinos are Criticized for Ouster]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20091027085736/http://geocities.com/benign0/agr-disagr/12-erap.html The Success of People Power II and what it really means]

{{Philippine coups}}

{{Philippines topics}}

{{Joseph Estrada}}

{{Gloria Macapagal Arroyo}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:EDSA II}}

Category:2000s coups d'état and coup attempts

Category:2001 in the Philippines

Category:21st-century revolutions

Category:History of the Philippines (1986–present)

Category:History of Metro Manila

Category:Nonviolent revolutions

Category:Presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

Category:Presidency of Joseph Estrada

Category:Protests in the Philippines

Category:Rebellions in the Philippines

Category:January 2001 in the Philippines

Category:Coups d'état and coup attempts in the Philippines

Category:Malacañang Palace