BAGUIO, Philippines – “People power, the democratic uprising, did not only happen at EDSA. It was the result of different struggles of different sectors getting integrated into a broad anti-fascist united front that was happening all over the Philippines,” recalled Joanna Kintanar Cariño, now in her 70s, from her home in Baguio City.
Cariño co-founded the Cordillera People’s Alliance and sits on its advisory council. In 2019, she became the first Filipino to receive the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights.
In 1969, the two-story Cariño house on Kisad Road in Baguio (now Venus Hotel) became a hub and refuge for activists – not just from Baguio but also Metro Manila.
Globally, protests erupted against the Vietnam War. In the Philippines, awareness of social injustices was growing.
The Cariño house welcomed spirited discussions, with lawyer Jose Cariño Jr. and his wife Josefina sometimes joining in. By then, five of their eight children, including Joanna, were activists, deeply involved in the Kabataang Makabayan (KM).
The family provided food and shelter to fellow activists, who in return helped around the house. Rafael Baylosis, one of them, even treated Mrs. Cariño’s arthritis with acupuncture.
Joanna recalled how, for an activist’s birthday, her father gifted them a pig – but alive. It escaped, and the young activists, clueless about butchering, scrambled to catch it. They eventually managed to cook it.
Her three younger siblings, already immersed in the movement, later joined the struggle too.
Creating the environment
Before Martial Law was declared in 1972, KM had established chapters in nearly all colleges, universities, and some high schools in Baguio. At the University of the Philippines College-Baguio, study groups met thrice weekly, discussing texts by Jose Maria Sison, analyzing Philippine social issues, and debating global events like the Vietnam War.
KM members won student council seats in most schools, including UP College-Baguio, Baguio Colleges Foundation (now the University of the Cordilleras), and Saint Louis University. These victories allowed them to organize more discussions and events.
Cariño credited her development as an activist to KM’s values of simple living and hard struggle, encapsulated in their slogans:
- Makibaka, huwag matakot! (Be resolute, fear no sacrifice!)
- Paglingkuran ang sambayanan! (Serve the people!)
- Mangahas makibaka, mangahas magtagumpay! (Dare to struggle, dare to win victory!)
“I still hold on to these today,” she said.
Outside campuses, Baguio’s relatively liberal atmosphere nurtured activism. Some journalists and opinion leaders were critical of the Marcos regime, creating an environment ripe for political engagement.
Activists tackled pressing issues such as the high prices, oil shortages, and rice crises. They supported factory workers, miners, and drivers who went on strike, advocating for the masses.
Beyond EDSA
Cariño said she prefers “anti-dictatorship struggle” over simply “EDSA.” Before and after Martial Law was declared, many activists went underground to avoid arrest, torture, or death.
She said her father Jose received a warning call before the declaration, allowing his five activist children to escape. They fled to different locations to evade authorities.
Under Martial Law, activists shifted their organizing efforts underground. All civil liberties were revoked.
In the Cordillera, resistance grew against Marcos-era projects like the Chico Dam (Kalinga and Mountain Province) and Cellophil Resources Corporation (Abra). Entire communities fought to protect their ancestral lands from so-called development projects that threatened their livelihood and existence.
In Baguio, activists mobilized students from affected areas. The indigenous struggle for land rights gained widespread support, spilling over into urban protests. Cariño believes these movements – alongside the war in Mindanao against the Moro National Liberation Front – further weakened the dictatorship.
To suppress resistance, Marcos deployed more troops. But among the Igorots, many from warrior societies, some eventually joined the New People’s Army.
Meanwhile, miners protested low wages, despite striking being illegal. Students demanded the reinstatement of student councils and campus publications.
“Oppression breeds resistance. People can only take so much. Tama na, sobra na (It’s enough, it’s too much)!” Cariño said. “Oppressed people find ways of resisting.”
Another catalyst for mass mobilization was the 1983 assassination of former senator and opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., which galvanized the opposition.
More anti-fascist and anti-dictatorship groups emerged. As a direct result of the Chico Dam and Cellophil struggles, more Igorot organizations formed, strengthening indigenous resistance. In 1984, Cariño left academia to co-found the Cordillera People’s Alliance, uniting farmers, students, and workers across the region. It became a key force in the Cordillera’s anti-dictatorship movement.
“The momentum was building day by day, and more people were uniting to oust the dictator,” she said.
By February 1986, tensions had reached a boiling point.
In Baguio, after Jaime Cardinal Sin’s call to gather at EDSA, locals and students held a vigil at Baguio Cathedral from February 22 until the Marcos family fled.
Unresolved issues
According to Cariño, “After the democratic uprising in 1986, people were euphoric and hoped for a more democratic Philippines. But successive governments did not dismantle oppressive structures. The rich and powerful remained in control. Those responsible for torture, illegal detentions, and killings – including the dictator – were never held accountable. Perpetrators and cronies stayed in power. The movement for systemic change remains suppressed.”
“Sometimes you want to give up on the Filipino people. What gives me hope? Many young activists. In Baguio City, we have a very dynamic youth and student mass movement. They are hopeful and energetic. That’s why I believe it is true: Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan (The youth is the hope of the nation). There is hope because they continue [the struggle].” – Rappler.com