People Power Revolution in the context of Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree

At 7:15 p.m. on September 23, 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos announced on television that he had placed the Philippines under martial law, stating he had done so in response to the "communist threat" posed by the newly founded Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), and the sectarian "rebellion" of the Muslim Independence Movement (MIM). Opposition figures of the time (such as Lorenzo Tañada, Jose W. Diokno, and Jovito Salonga) accused Marcos of exaggerating these threats and using them as an excuse to consolidate power and extend his tenure beyond the two presidential terms allowed by the 1935 constitution. Marcos signed Proclamation No. 1081 on September 21, 1972, marking the beginning of a fourteen-year period of one-man rule, which effectively lasted until Marcos was exiled from the country on February 25, 1986. Proclamation No. 1081 was formally lifted on January 17, 1981 by Proclamation No. 2045, although Marcos retained essentially all of his powers as dictator until he was ousted in February 1986.

This nine-year period in Philippine history is remembered for the Marcos administration's record of human rights abuses, particularly targeting political opponents, student activists, journalists, religious workers, farmers, and others who fought against the Marcos dictatorship. Based on the documentation of Amnesty International, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, and similar human rights monitoring entities, historians believe that the Marcos dictatorship was marked by 3,257 known extrajudicial killings, 35,000 documented tortures, 737 enforced disappearances, and 70,000 incarcerations. After Marcos was ousted, government investigators discovered that the declaration of martial law had also allowed the Marcoses to hide secret stashes of unexplained wealth that various courts later determined to be "of criminal origin".

This article covers the history of the current Philippine republican state following the 1986 People Power Revolution, known as the Fifth Philippine Republic.

The return of democracy and government reforms beginning in 1986 were hampered by national debt, government corruption, coup attempts, disasters, a persistent communist insurgency, and a military conflict with Moro separatists. During Corazon Aquino's administration, U.S. forces withdrew from the Philippines, due to the rejection of the U.S. Bases Extension Treaty, and leading to the official transfer to the government of Clark Air Base in November 1991 and Subic Bay in December 1992. The administration also faced a series of natural disasters, including the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991.

Radio Philippines Network, Inc. (RPN) is a Philippine television and radio company based in Quezon City. It is currently owned through majority share by Nine Media Corporation of the ALC Group of Companies; along with the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), Far East Managers and Investors Inc. (owned by the family of Roberto Benedicto), and other private sectors. The network's main offices and flagship transmitter are located at Panay Avenue, Brgy. South Triangle, Quezon City. Founded by James Lindenberg, and prior to its privatization, it was the sister network of the current government-owned and controlled Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation; both networks were sequestered after the 1986 People Power Revolution, and formerly an attached agency of the now-PCO, which retained 20% of RPN's non-controlling shares following privatization.

Radio Philippines Network operates television stations with airtime being leased by its parent Nine Media and content provider TV5 Network, serving as primary broadcasters of free-to-air television channel RPTV. RPN also operates regional AM radio stations under the brand Radyo Ronda, serving as a partial affiliate of its sister station DWIZ in Metro Manila.

Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, and kleptocrat who served as the tenth and longest serving president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. Ruling the country as a dictator under martial law from 1972 to 1981, he granted himself expanded powers under the 1973 Constitution, describing his philosophy as "constitutional authoritarianism". He was eventually deposed in 1986 by the People Power Revolution and was succeeded as president by Corazon Aquino.

Marcos gained political success by exaggerating his actions in World War II, claiming to have been the "most decorated war hero in the Philippines"; United States Army documents described his claims as "fraudulent" and "absurd". After the war, he became a lawyer. He served in the Philippine House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the Philippine Senate from 1959 to 1965. He was elected president in 1965. He presided over an economy that grew during the beginning of his 20-year rule, but ended in the loss of livelihood and extreme poverty for almost half the Philippine population, combined with a debt crisis. He pursued infrastructure development funded by foreign debt, making him popular during his first term, although the aid triggered an inflation crisis that led to social unrest in his second term. Marcos placed the Philippines under martial law on September 23, 1972, shortly before the end of his second term. Martial law was ratified in 1973 through a fraudulent referendum. He ruled the country under martial law from 1972 to 1981. During this period, the constitution was revised and media outlets were silenced. Marcos also oversaw a violent crackdown against the political opposition, Muslims, suspected communists, and ordinary citizens.

Jovito Reyes Salonga, KGCR (Tagalog pronunciation: [hoˈvito sɐˈlɔŋga]; June 22, 1920 – March 10, 2016) also called "Ka Jovy," was a Filipino lawyer and politician, as well as a leading opposition leader during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos from the declaration of martial law in 1972 until the People Power Revolution in 1986, which removed Marcos from power. Salonga was then elected as the 14th president of the Senate of the Philippines and the first one after the new Constitution was just ratified, serving from 1987 up to his retirement from politics in 1992.

Salonga was known as the "Nation's Premier Fiscalizer." He is the only person to top the bar exam and the senatorial race multiple times (with the sole record of three elections garnering the highest number of popular votes in 1965, 1971, and 1987 immediately after People Power).

The Integrated Civilian Home Defense Forces, also called the Civilian Home Defense Force and commonly referred to by its acronym CHDF, was an irregular paramilitary force supervised and deployed by the heads of the local government in the Philippines — provincial governors, city and municipal mayors. The CHDF was active during the 1970s, and was officially disbanded in 1986 after the People Power Revolution. However, the creation of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit in 1987 provided the opportunity for CHDF members to once again perform their former duties.

María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino CCLH (Tagalog: [kɔɾaˈsɔn kɔˈhwaŋkɔ aˈkino]; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was the 11th president of the Philippines, serving from 1986 to 1992. The first female president in Philippine history, Aquino was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People Power Revolution, which ended the two-decade rule of President Ferdinand Marcos and led to the establishment of the current democratic Fifth Philippine Republic. She has been regarded by media outlets as the "Mother of Democracy".

Aquino was married to Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., a prominent critic of President Marcos. The couple have five children, including 15th president Benigno Aquino III and entertainer Kris Aquino. After the assassination of her husband on August 21, 1983, she emerged as leader of the opposition against the president. In late 1985, Marcos called for a snap election, and Aquino ran for president with former Senator Salvador Laurel as her running mate for vice president. After the February 7, 1986, presidential election, the Batasang Pambansa proclaimed Marcos and his running mate Arturo Tolentino as the winners, which prompted allegations of electoral fraud and Aquino's call for massive civil disobedience actions. Subsequently, the People Power Revolution, a non-violent mass demonstration movement, took place from February 22 to 25. With support from the Philippine Catholic Church and defections from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the People Power Revolution ousted Marcos, and Aquino, with no prior political experience, was sworn in to the presidency on February 25, 1986.