Non-violent Protests and The Teachings of Ghandi

The year was 1986 and the people of the Philippines were being oppressed by their elected president turned Dictator Ferdinand Marcos for twenty years. And a four-day series of non-violent mass demonstrations toppled Marcos dictatorship. It was a series of popular non violent revolutions and prayerful mass street demonstrations in the Philippines that occurred in 1986, which marked the restoration of the country's democracy. Non violent resistance is the best method to peacefully attain social change in times of political oppression. Non violent resistance is just one teaching of Mahatma Gandhi that was used by the people of Philippine in their times of political oppression and is evident throughout the Philippine revolution of 1986 which helped the country restore democracy.

One of the Philippines more influential revolution leaders was influenced by the teachings and beliefs of the renowned “originator of the modern nonviolent or passive resistance movement”, Mahatma Gandhi (Bedford/St. Martin's 445). Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino is one of Marcos political opponents ordered to be immediately arrested after declaring the martial law. While wrongfully incarcerated by Marcos Ninoy read Gandhi whose life and work greatly influenced him to want to free his people in the Philippines. Ninoy was assassinated at the Manila national airport on August 21, 1983, upon his return to the Philippines from exile in the United States for three years. He had a speech prepared for that day even though he was not able to give his speech it was clear in the speech that he planned to resolve the political confrontations with Marcos through non violent means which he adopted from Gandhi’s work. In his speech Ninoy writes “I have returned of my free will joi...

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...e in their times of political oppression and is just one of the many teachings of Gandhi which are evident in the Philippine revolution of 1986. The law of suffering is one of the teachings of Gandhi that was used in the Philippines people revolution which helped their progress. Also faith and Satyagraha are two of the teachings of Gandhi that the people of the Philippines used to fight political oppression and unite the people. If the people of the Philippines would have used violence to fight their oppressive political force the outcome would have not been a peaceful one as it was on those four days of February 1986, in which no lives were lost.

Works Cited

Cultural Conversations: The Presence of the past. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001. Print.

Kumar, Ravindra. Mahatma Gandhi at the Close of Twentieth Century. New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 2004. Print.