| 1965 |
- Ferdinand E. Marcos becomes president.
|
| 1972 |
- Marcos establishes martial
law.
|
| 1983 |
- Opposition leader Benigno S. Aquino returns from
exile, is slain on arrival at Manila Airport;
Benigno's widow Corazon
Aguino leads "People Power" protest movement.
|
| 1986 |
- Marcos defeats Aquino in a presidential election
amid charges of fraud; riots erupt; Marcos flees into
exile; Aquino forms new government.
|
| 1992 |
- Former Gen. Fidel Ramos wins presidential election with Aquino's support; U.S.
turns Subic Bay naval base to Philippine government,
ending American military presence in the country.
|
| 1996 |
- Philippine government agrees to greater autonomy
for southernmost island of Mindanao, where Islamic separatists called
Moro National Liberation Front wage guerrilla war.
|
| 1997 |
- Philippines escape Asian
financial crisis despite series of currency
devaluations.
|
| 1998 |
- Former movie star Joseph Estrada elected
president.
|
| 2000 |
- Legislature begins impeachment hearings against
Estrada on corruption charges. The hearings are never
completed.
|
| 2001 |
- Public outrage forces Estrada to step down; Vice
President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo assumes the presidency; Estrada
indicted for corruption; rebel group Moro Islamic
Liberation Front agrees to a ceasefire.
|
| 2002 |
- U.S. government provides training to Philippine
troops fighting the guerilla group Abu Sayyaf, which
is believed to have ties to Osama bin Laden; the
group's leader, Abu Sabaya,
is killed.
|
| 2003 |
- Ceasefire with Moro Islamic Liberation Front
breaks down, then reinstated; hundreds of mutinous
soldiers demonstrate against the regime.
Dozens of mutinous soldiers took over a Manila
shopping complex, protesting low pay and demanding the
resignation of President Arroyo and the defense
secretary. The demonstration ended peacefully.
|
| 2004 |
- Presidential election takes place on May 10;
Arroyo's closest rival is film star Fernando Poe, Jr.,
a friend of Estrada. President Arroyo narrowly
defeated Poe, taking 39.5% of the vote to his 36.6%,
according to the unofficial count.
Angelo
dela Cruz, a truck driver kidnapped by Iraqi
insurgents, released on July 10 after Philippine
president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo accedes to
kidnappers' demands and pulls troops from Iraq. He had
been held for two weeks.
|
| 2005 |
- In March, police kill three top members of Abu
Sayyaf while quelling a prison uprising in Manila. In
all, 22 people, including 20 prisoners and two guards,
die in the violence. A week after the operation,
police arrest a suspected Islamic militant who they
believe was planning a retaliatory bomb attack on
Manila over Easter weekend.
Members of
the opposition call for the resignation of President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in June, after she admitted to
calling an election official during 2004's
presidential race. A taped phone conversation between
Arroyo and an election commisisoner seems to suggest
that she had tried to use her power to influence the
outcome. The opposition filed an impeachment motion in
July.
|
| 2006 |
- A mudslide in February leveled the town of
Guinsaugon and killed about 1,800 of its 1,857
residents.
Arroyo declared a state of
emergency in February, saying the government had
foiled an attempted coup by the military. She also
banned rallies commemorating the 20th anniversary of
the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos. Some observers,
however, dismissed the report of the coup attempt as
political maneuvering to gain support and weaken the
opposition.
On June 24, President Arroyo
announced the abolition of the death penalty.
On June 26, opponents of President Arroyo filed
a new impeachment complaint, alleging corruption and
human rights abuses.
|
| 2007 |
- In September 2007, former president Joseph Estrada
was convicted of corruption and senteced to life in
prison.
- The government said in November that it had
reached a deal with the separatist Moro National
Liberation Front that set boundaries for a Muslim
homeland on the southern island of on Mindanao.
|
| 2010 |
- In May, Benigno S. Aquino III is elected president
during the first automated national elections in the Philippines.
|
Back to Part I |
|
Atlas
Encyclopedia
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Day in History
