The September 1984 Welcome Rotonda protest dispersal was a landmark incident which happened on September 27, 1984, near the end of the administration of Ferdinand Marcos, in which pro-Marcos forces hosed down and fired tear gas on several thousand[1] peaceful protesters gathered at Welcome Rotonda, a roundabout on the border between the City of Manila and Quezon City. They also fired into the crowd. Student leader Fidel Nemenzo was shot in the back, eventually recovering from the M-16 bullet that hit his liver, diaphragm and lungs. [2][3][4]
The protesters included 80-year-old former Senator Lorenzo Tañada and 71-year old Manila Times founder Chino Roces. Images of the event showing the two seniors struggling against the waterhosing and teargas unleashed by the pro-Marcos forces were published in Mosquito press publications such as Malaya and WE Forum, and quickly became iconic. This led to a further decline in support for Ferdinand Marcos, who was already losing significant support in the wake of assassination of Benigno Aquino the year before.[5]
Many of the protesters prominently featured in the photo coverage would later become prominent civil society leaders and government officials. Aside from Lorenzo Tanada, Chino Roces, and Fidel Nemenzo (former Chancellor of the University of the Philippines Diliman), intellectuals, opposition leaders, artists, and journalists who participated in the rally included:[6][7]
- Tañada's son (and later senator) Wigberto Tañada,
- Constitutional Convention delegate (and later Philippine Vice President) Teofisto Guingona,
- human rights lawyer (and later senator) Rene Saguisag,
- August Twenty One Movement (ATOM) and Bansang Nagkakaisa sa Diwa at Layunin (BANDILA) founder (and later Senator) Butz Aquino,
- human rights activist Ed Garcia,
- later Tarlac Governor Tingting Cojuangco,
- WE Forum photographer Lito Ocampo,
- activist and writer Susan Quimpo,
- Cebuana radio commentator Nenita Cortes-Daluz; and
- film director Behn Cervantes.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Quimpo, Susan F. (2012). Subversive lives : a family memoir of the Marcos years (First Ohio University Press ed.). Athens: Ohio University Press. ISBN 978-0-89680-495-1. OCLC 954735081.
- ^ "'They are scared,' Martial law victim says of surprise Marcos burial". Manila Bulletin.
- ^ "Lorenzo Tañada undaunted in line of fire". October 8, 2017.
- ^ Oreña-Drilon, Ces (February 29, 2020). "The M-16 bullet that changed Fidel Nemenzo's life". ABS-CBN News and Public Affairs. Archived from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
- ^ Chua, Michael Charleston B. (2012) Haring Bayan: Democracy and People Power in the Philippines, in “For Democracy and Human Rights: Rekindling the Lessons of Martial Law and the People Power Revolution” (Discussion Papers for the 40th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Martial Law (Never Again, Remembering Martial Law @ 40).” Quezon City: Center for Youth Networking and Advocacy and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
- ^ Sabillo, Kristine Angeli. "LOOK: Photographer shares dramatic images from anti-Marcos protests". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
- ^ Cojuangco, Tingting. "For the love of freedom". The Philippine Star.
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