The attempt on the life of then-Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. on August 21, 1983, proved to be the final straw for the Filipino people. With millions going to the streets to call for Aquino’s release from imprisonment in Fort Bonifacio and the Filipino Pope Peter II issuing the scathing papal bull “Nolite timere,” which excommunicated President Ferdinand Marcos and released all Filipino Catholics from following his orders, the Marcos regime’s days were numbered.
On August 25, soldiers led by Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and AFP Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Fidel V. Ramos broke Ninoy Aquino out of prison and installed him as President. Democratic forces took over Metro Manila, sparking the Second Philippine Revolution, in which Aquino’s democratic government fought and defeated Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorial regime. On September 21, 1983, the capture of President Marcos and his cabinet in the municipality of Sarrat in Ilocos Norte put an end to the Marcos regime. The war was finally over.
Just as the Philippines breathed a sigh of relief, tragedy struck on September 26, 1983. The American Bolster-class rescue and salvage ship USS Conserver had discovered the wreckage of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 and the bodies of all 269 on board, including the bodies of Rep. Larry McDonald, Rep. Carroll Hubbard, Sen. Jesse Helms, and Sen. Steve Symms, when the Soviet Kashin-class destroyer Odarennyy, accidentally collided with the ship, killing many on board. The US ships immediately fired on the Soviets, sparking the Third World War, which immediately turned nuclear that same day, instantly killing millions of innocent people and destroying entire nations.
Despite its proximity to the flashpoint, the Philippines was miraculously spared from the destruction, the nine Soviet missiles heading for Clark Air Base, Naval Base Subic Bay, Danilo Atienza Air Base, Naval Base Cavite, Wallace Air Station, John Hay Air Station, and the cities of Manila, Cebu, and Davao hitting the ground without detonating. The country was also spared from the worst of nuclear fallout thanks to the southwest monsoon at the time of the attack. Soviet Tu-95s from Cam Ranh Bay made multiple attempts at bombing the Philippines but were quickly repelled by the Philippine Air Force and the United States Air Force.
From September 27-29, the US, Australian, and Philippine navies successfully hunted down Soviet submarines in the Pacific, led by the USS Enterprise. On October 1, NATO and Warsaw Pact remnants agreed to a ceasefire. On October 10, 1983, the Third World War finally ended with the signing of the Treaty of Manila in Malacañan Palace.
The year is 1984. The Philippines faces its greatest challenge yet. Will the Philippines collapse like its neighbors or rise like a phoenix, living up to its sobriquet as the Pearl of the Orient Seas?
