1987 in the Philippines details events of note that happened in the Philippines in the year 1987.
Incumbents
President: Corazon Aquino (UNIDO) Vice President: Salvador Laurel (UNIDO) Chief Justice: Claudio Teehankee (1986–88) Philippine Congress: 8th Congress of the Philippines Senate President: Jovito Salonga (Liberal) House Speaker: Ramon V. Mitra, Jr. (LDP, 2nd District Palawan)
Events
January January 4 – A government proposal for autonomy in 4 Muslim-dominated provinces in Mindanao is agreed by Muslim separatists, ending the 14-year secessionist war in the area.Revolutionary Struggle in the Philippines Retrieved 04-19-2021. January 22 – A crowd of 10,000, mostly farmers demanding land reforms (and rallying against Pres. Aquino), are shot by the troops at Mendiola Bridge during their protest march as they are going to the presidential palace in Manila; 13 farmers killed; 98 others injured.–"Timeline of Mendiola massacre: 33 years and counting" Philstar.com (The Philippine Star). January 21, 2020. –"Mendiola Massacre" GMA News Online. January 22, 2008. –"The bloody Mendiola massacre took place 34 years ago today" Esquire (Philippines). January 22, 2019. –"4 things to know about the Mendiola Massacre" Rappler. January 21, 2017. All aforementioned were retrieved 05-01-2021.
–"The Mendiola massacre: Decades on, Philippine land reform movement remains mired in blood" The Diplomat. January 22, 2021. Retrieved 04-30-2021. January 27 – Pro-Marcos rebel soldiers, led by Col. Oscar Canlas, occupy GMA Network compound, wherein a siege by some 300 mutineers for almost 3 days ends in their surrender to the government, with 35 wounded; Villamor Air Base, wherein an assault results in the death of a mutineer and 16 injuries; as well as Sangley Point Naval base and the government-owned PTV-4. In connection with the coup attempt, at least 509 people would be arrested; 107 soldiers would be convicted by a military court in 1988.–"Philippines to arrest officers who led military rebellion" The Washington Post. January 31, 1987. –"General, three officers ordered arrested for coup attempt" AP. January 31, 1987. Retrieved 04-30-2021.–"Coup attempts against Aquino" The Washington Post. Dec. 2, 1989. –"Philippine coup attempts" The New York Times. Dec. 1, 1989. Retrieved 05-01-2021."Timeline: Recent coups and attempted coups in the Philippines" Reuters. Nov. 29, 2007. Retrieved 05-01-2021.
February February 2 – In a national plebiscite for a proposed new constitution, majority votes in favor of it."New Philippines constitution given huge approval" (02-03-1987) AP via Daily News, p. 9-A. (Link) Retrieved 02-24-2022. Drafted by the Constitutional Commission of 1986, it would be adopted with a vote of 76.37% in the referendum for its ratification. February 8 – A ceasefire between government troops and the guerrilla forces, began in December 1987, expires. February 10 – A clash between 40 communist New People's Army (NPA) rebels and the military forces in Lupao, Nueva Ecija kills 17 villagers and a soldier; wounds an Army radioman. AFP chief Ramos apprehended 85 troops to barracks on Feb. 18 during an investigation."Massacres, incidents of violence against farmers" Rappler. October 23, 2018. Retrieved 05-01-2021.–"Philippine army patrol kills 17 civilians as war with leftists resumes" UCA News. February 17, 1987. –"Death in a quiet Filipino hamlet: 17 civilians caught in the middle" The New York Times. February 17, 1987. Retrieved 05-01-2021. February 11: Manila Standard publishes its first issue. A new constitution is declared ratified, replacing the "freedom constitution".
March March 5 – A fire destroys a warehouse and nine homes in an industrial-residential area in Marikina, killing 18 people in an old shoe factory which has been converted into a worker's dormitory. March 17 – Nineteen army soldiers are killed in a land mine attack, perpetrated by Communist rebels, in Quezon. March 18 – A bomb explosion in a grandstand at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio kills four people and injures up to 43 others.PMA explosion (information updated in sources):
March 19 – Communist rebels ambush a military patrol near Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental, killing 18 soldiers in a battle.
April April 18 – A raid in Fort Bonifacio is staged by 56 mutineers trying to free soldiers detained for the failed Jan. 27 coup attempt; 62 people, including military officers, are kept hostage; but is repelled with a rebel soldier killed and two wounded. April 19 – A major power failure, similar to that of August 1986, hits Metro Manila and most of Luzon for several hours at evening, purportedly caused by a transmission line failure.
May May 4 – An ambush by rebels in Malinao, Aklan leaves 16 government soldiers dead and nine wounded."Philippine rebels ambush convoy" The Washington Post. May 5, 1987. Retrieved 04-25-2021. May 11 – Legislative elections is held for the first time post-Marcos era. Administration candidates would win more than two-thirds of the House seats and 22 in the Senate, where the oppositionist Grand Alliance for Democracy would secure the remaining two seats. May 27 - Geraldine Asis was proclaimed Top 10 in the Miss Universe 1987 pageant night was held in the HarbourFront Centre, Singapore
June June 8 – Bernabe Buscayno, former NPA ranking leader and one of the founders of Partido ng Bayan, is seriously wounded in a car ambush in Quezon City wherein a television cameraman is killed.–"Former guerilla chief hurt in Manila ambush" The Washington Post. June 10, 1987.–"Gunmen in Philippines ambush former rebel" The New York Times. June 9, 1987.–"Ex-Rebel 'Commander Dante' Enlists in a New Revolution" Los Angeles Times. October 28, 1989.Retrieved 04-25-2021. June 22 – A convoy carrying former rebel priest Conrado Balweg is ambushed by suspected guerrillas in Licuan-Baay, Abra, killing eight.–"Rebel priest escapes ambush unscathed" UPI. June 21, 1987.–"Former rebel in hiding after surviving assassination attempt" AP. June 23, 1987.–"Former rebel priest Balweg criticized for tribal reprisal-killing" UCA News. October 13, 1987.Retrieved 04-25-2021. June 26 – Philippine Airlines PR 206 crashes into Mt. Ugo in Itogon, Benguet with all 50 people on board killed. It is then the country's second worst air accident.—"All 50 Aboard Killed in Airliner Crash" AP. June 27, 1987.—"50 Killed as Plane Crashes in Philippines" AP via Los Angeles Times. June 26, 1987.—"50 killed in Philippines as plane hits mountain" The Washington Post. June 26, 1987.Retrieved 06-01-2022.For the timelines of related accidents:—"RP's worst air accidents" (April 20, 2000). Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. 13. Retrieved August 16, 2019.—"Philippines' worst commercial flight disasters" Philstar.com. July 25, 2014. Retrieved 06-01-2022.According to Aviation Safety Network database (Link), the said aviation accident was the 2nd worst at that time and currently the 5th. The worst at that time was the one which occurred in May 1964, now the 3rd deadliest, with 80 fatalities (including 1 on the ground). (See the details of May 1964 and June 1987 accidents. Retrieved 02-11-2021.)On the other hand, it might be the country's worst commercial aviation accident at that time. It was reported that, in 1967, another plane of same aircraft type and from same operator crashed in northern Luzon, with 56 deaths. (Refer to cited news articles.) However, it was proved unverified as there is no such accident in the said database.
July Early July – A tape-recorded conversation between former President Ferdinand Marcos and two Americans in the former's home in Hawaii on May 27 is publicized in Washington, D.C. and in Manila, revealing his plan to launch a coup by this month and to buy weapons to be used in an attack at the presidential palace. July 13 – Security forces revealed that another anti-government plot, which involved the takeover of an airport, a school, and the Air Force headquarters, all in Metro Manila, is aborted with the arrest of four army officers in Manila, including a major on July 10. Dozen bomb attacks in the past three weeks has been linked to the plot. July 15 – The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) is created through Executive Order No. 220 signed by Pres. Corazon Cojuangco–Aquino, consisting of, from Region 1, the provinces of Abra, Benguet and Mountain Province, and Baguio, and from Region 2, the provinces of Kalinga-Apayao and Ifugao. July 27: Fifty soldiers arrest Col. Rolando Abadilla, President Marcos' intelligence chief and a renegade army officer believed to be the mastermind of at least four previous coup plots, at his home near Manila. On July 31, Abadilla is charged with conspiracy to commit rebellion in connection with the recently aborted attempt. The re-established Congress is opened with its first session. NPA guerrillas in Luna, Kalinga-Apayao, attack an army convoy, which has been sent to reinforce an army detachment also under attack, killing 18 soldiers.
August
August 2 – Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Jaime Ferrer and his driver are killed by gunmen before reaching home in Parañaque, in the first assassination of a cabinet member in country's history.Death of J. Ferrer: Police charges two men regarding the murder on August 25. August 28–29 – A coup attempt against Pres. Aquino, one of the most serious, is launched by members of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) led by Col. Gregorio Honasan; rebel soldiers seize Malacañang Palace, Camp Aguinaldo, Villamor Air Base, three television stations in Metro Manila, military camps in Pampanga and Cebu, and the airport in Legazpi City, wherein assaults result in at least 53 fatalities and more than 200 injuries; is repelled by government troops on the 29th. "The Final Report of the Fact-Finding Commission:" "IV: Military Intervention in the Philippines: 1986 – 1987" Official Gazette of the Philippines. October 3, 1990. Retrieved 04-25-2021.– –"Philippine coup attempt highlights military problems" The Christian Science Monitor. August 31, 1987. Retrieved 05-01-2021.
September September 2 – Twenty-one government troops are killed in an ambush at a village in Quezon. On the same day, ten are killed in a raid in the municipal hall of Gonzaga, Cagayan. Both attacks are perpetrated by the NPA rebels."Philippine rebels on the attack" Chicago Tribune. September 4, 1987. Retrieved 04-25-2021. September 5 – Almost one platoon of constabulary forces, later colloquially described as the Lason Batch, fell victims to a mass poisoning attack in Zamboanga in which 19 soldiers died and 140 were hospitalized. September 9 and 11 – The entire 25-member Cabinet and three officials of the Presidential Commission on Good Government resign during an emergency meeting following the previous month's failed coup attempt. Two days later, nine officials also tender resignations, including Central Bank governor Jose Fernandez and commissioners of the internal revenue, customs and immigration bureaus. Only few are later replaced by President Aquino, including Vice President Laurel who resigns as foreign secretary. September 12 – Fighting near Samal, Bataan, results in deaths of six soldiers and seven guerrillas.
October October 12 – Pres. Aquino files a libel suit against The Philippine Star columnist Luis Beltran for his remarks about her and a mutiny in August. The conviction of Beltran, as well as publisher Maximo Soliven, would be later reversed.For this event:—"Aquino sues Philippine journalist for libel" The Washington Post. Oct. 12, 1987.—"Today in Philippine history, October 12, 1987" The Kahimyang Project.For the details of the case:—"FALSE: Cory Aquino's libel suit vs Beltran was not deemed press freedom issue" Rappler. June 20, 2020.All were retrieved July 4, 2022. October 18 – Canonization of San Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino saint.