First Quarter Storm

1970 protests against Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos

The First Quarter Storm , often shortened into the acronym FQS, was a period of civil unrest in the Philippines which took place during the "first quarter of the year 1970". It included a series of demonstrations, protests, and marches against the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, mostly organized by students and supported by workers, peasants, and members of the urban poor, from January 26 to March 17, 1970. Protesters at these events raised issues related to social problems, authoritarianism, alleged election fraud, and corruption at the hand of Marcos. Violent dispersals of various FQS protests were among the first watershed events in which large numbers of Filipino students of the 1970s were radicalized against the Marcos administration. Due to these dispersals, many students who had previously held "moderate" positions (i. e., calling for legislative reforms) became convinced that they had no choice but to call for more radical social change. Similar watershed events would later include the February 1971 Diliman Commune; the August 1971 suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in the wake of the Plaza Miranda bombing; the September 1972 declaration of Martial Law; the 1980 murder of Macli ing Dulag; the August 1983 assassination of Ninoy Aquino; and eventually, allegations of cheating during the 1986 Snap Elections which led to the non violent 1986 EDSA Revolution.

Ferdinand Marcos was re elected for a second term as president on November 11, 1969. This made him the first and last Filipino president of the Third Philippine Republic to win a second full term.

Marcos won the November 1969 election by a landslide, and was inaugurated on December 30 of that year. But Marcos's massive spending during the 1969 presidential campaign had taken its toll and triggered growing public unrest. During the campaign, Marcos spent $50 million worth in debt funded infrastructure, triggering a balance of payments crisis. The Marcos administration ran to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help, and the IMF offered a debt restructuring deal. New policies, including a greater emphasis on exports and the relaxation of controls of the peso, were put in place. The Peso was allowed to float to a lower market value, resulting in drastic inflation, and social unrest. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. remarked that the nation was turning into a 'garrison state' and President Marcos himself described the country as a 'social volcano.'

Various parties had begun campaigning to initiate a constitutional convention that would change the 1935 Constitution of the Philippines in 1967, citing rising discontent over wide inequalities in society. Marcos would eventually surprised his critics by endorsing the move, but later historians would note that the resulting Constitutional Convention laid the foundation for the legal justifications Marcos used to extend his term past the two four year terms allowable under the 1935 Constitution. The "Moderates", which included church groups, civil libertarians, and nationalist politicians, were those who wanted to create change through political reforms. Student demonstrators, for example, made a manifesto for the constitutional convention, containing the following provisions: The KM advocated for liberation from American imperialism, which "made the suffering of [the] people more complex and more severe." Their first demonstration, which took place at the U. S. Embassy on January 25, 1965, was held to this effect. The KM had since been active in various rallies and demonstrations such as those condemning the Laurel Langley agreement, Parity Amendments, Mutual Defense treaty, the state visit of South Vietnam Premier Cao Ky in 1966, the state visit of President Marcos to the U. S., the October 24, 1966, Manila Summit conference, the killings of Filipinos in American bases, and the visit of President Nixon—events which they believe contribute to the feudalistic nature of the country.</blockquote>

In general, during 1968, there have been many local student demonstrations trying to address internal issues, "ranging from stinking toilets to increased tuition fees."

While the period from January to March 1970 was one of significant social unrest in the Philippines and there is no definitive record of all protests or demonstrations in the country, seven protests in the area of Metropolitan Manila have come to be considered the historically notable demonstrations of the time, even being branded the "7 deadly protests of the First Quarter Storm" in some media accounts. The two escaped to the presidential limousine, leaving the police consisting of the Manila Police District (MPD) and elements of the Philippine Constabulary Metropolitan Command (MetroCom) to disperse the crowd. This led to hours of bloody confrontation between the protesters and the police, ending with at least two students confirmed dead and several more injured. The rally lasted until 5pm. While this was happening, different student leaders were already in Malacañang having a meeting with Ferdinand Marcos to make the following demands: "the holding of a nonpartisan constitutional convention; the commitment that Marcos, a two term president, would not suddenly change the rules forbidding a president from seeking a third term; the resignation of the Manila Police District top brass; and the disbandment of paramilitary units in Central Luzon." Marcos said that he was not interested in a third term and Jopson demanded that he put that down in writing, which led to Marcos lash out at him by calling him as merely the son of a grocer. The President did not agree to their terms and their meeting ended at around 6pm. As they headed to the front door of Malacañang Palace, they heard the sounds of glass breaking and pillboxes exploding. Protesters claimed that Malacañang guards started the violence by throwing pellets at them from inside, which led them to take over a fire truck and smashed it into Malacañang's Gate 4. Once the gate broke and gave way, bold protestors charged into the Palace grounds tossing rocks, pillboxes, Molotov cocktails. The Presidential Guard Battalion then came out in full force with their guns. The protestors drew back but not before inflaming the fire truck and a government car. Reactions in the international media were mixed: Singapore's Eastern Sun wrote that Marcos was right for "taking the hard line" in dealing with the demonstrators while an independent Chinese newspaper in Hong Kong thought otherwise. Both publications believed that the charge regarding the involvement of Chinese communists in the violence was exaggerated. Marcos saw the January 30 protest and siege in Malacañang not only as a personal assault but also as an assault to the presidency itself. He thought of the protests as an insurrection, and only a part of a plot to overthrow the government by force. Juan Ponce Enrile, who was then Secretary of Justice, recalled in his memoir that at the time of the January 30 Malacañang attack, President Marcos nearly announced Martial Law. Even though the protest involved long walks from one assembly point to another, the organizations participating in the march multiplied. When the protesters reached the U. S. Embassy, where they again struggled with the police. However, numerous protests, including the Diliman Commune and the Movement of Concerned Citizens for Civil Liberties rallies led by Senator Jose W. Diokno continued in the period between the dissipation of the First Quarter Storm and the 1972 declaration of Martial Law.

The Senate convened a special committee to investigate the violence that had occurred at the January 1970 rallies. The committee released its findings on March 12, 1970. The committee said that the demonstrators did not have any firearms and questioned the military's decision to fire its weapons.

The demonstrations that took place during the first quarter storm are historically remembered as the first stirrings of the social unrest which would eventually lead to Martial Law what Petronilo Daroy referred to as "a torrent of mass protest actions against everything that was construed as ‘establishment.’"

The First Quarter Storm was followed by a year of demonstrations, varying from picketing, long marches, live theater, people's tribunal, and parliament of the streets. These demonstrations contributed to the image of a communist insurgency, which was used as justification for the declaration of Martial Law.

The Veterans Federation of the Philippines arranged a "March for Democracy" where the veterans strode around Intramuros, Rizal Park, Luneta grandstand, and then to the Sunken Garden, where speeches and a pledging ceremony were held. Col. Simeon Medalla, head of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines, explains that the rally was not Marcos inspired, contrary to allegations sprung from rumors of American officials or allies being seen at the rally and the fact that the President himself was the most decorated veteran of the previous war. Their purpose, rather, was to "preserve the ideals and principles for which the people fought during the war," a statement inscribed on the large banner carried during the march. When the veterans' march was cast in a negative light by media the following morning, Medalla remarked in jest, "Was it because there was no violence in our rally?" On that note, Ben Florentino, head of the United Disabled Veterans Association of the Philippines, commented that if the 'young radical activists' had experienced the hardships of war as they had, then they would not be advocating violence. Florentino and Medalla further stressed that veterans were the first group to stage demonstrations for the sake of demanding legitimate reforms from the government. They also felt the need to call for reforms but believed that these should be achieved peacefully and undergoing democratic processes. COMELEC Chairman Jamie N. Ferrer attributed the student demonstrations to the rampant corruption in the political system, while Civil Service Commissioner Abelardo Subido attributed them to the lack of dialogue between the youth and their elders, calling on parents to tell their children "what we need is a change through peaceful means to achieve economic independence."

When the news of the January 30 riots broke out, spectators, especially parents of the students participating in the demonstration, were appalled by the military behavior in these riots, questioning the need for armed military men at Mendiola. Participating groups of the said riots claimed that the violence was sparked by Malacañang guards, who threw pellets at the protesters from the inside, thus provoking demonstrators to retaliate and to ram a fire truck into the Malacañang No. 4 gate. These incidents of violence were heightened to bloodshed by the arrival of MetroCom as some groups, such as Kabataang Makabayan, claim that the armed forces attacked the students, who were virtually unarmed.</blockquote>

However, the group justifies this violence by considering it as an objective reality while maintaining their position that, while KM has taken part in numerous demonstrations that had led to violence, the riots have been incited by the police and not their members. The KM was more concerned with the "politicalization of the masses," and if they wanted to stage an armed revolution, they would have come bearing arms to rallies.