First Quarter Storm

First Quarter Storm
Sigwa ng Unang Sangkapat (Filipino)
DateJanuary—March 1970
Location
Manila, Quezon City and various parts of Rizal province
Caused by
Goals
  • remove internal issues in schools (e.g. tuition hikes)
  • address poverty, economic crisis
  • call for systemic change in the government (non-partisan constitutional convention)
Methods
  • demonstrations, protests, and marches by students, labor unions, and civic groups
Resulted inViolent dispersal of protesters by government forces; radicalization of opposition; used by Marcos as justification for establishing dictatorship
Parties

Moderate Opposition

Radical Opposition
Lead figures
This article is part of a series
about
Ferdinand Marcos

Presidency

First term
Second term
Martial law
Third and fourth terms

Family

Unexplained wealth

Legacy

Related


President of the Philippines

The First Quarter Storm (Filipino: Sigwa ng Unang Sangkapat), often shortened into the acronym FQS, was a period of civil unrest in the Philippines which took place during the "first quarter of the year 1970". It included a series of demonstrations, protests, and marches against the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, mostly organized by students and supported by workers, peasants, and members of the urban poor, from January 26 to March 17, 1970.[1][2][3] Protesters at these events raised issues related to social problems, authoritarianism, alleged election fraud, and corruption at the hand of Marcos.[4][5]

Violent dispersals of various FQS protests were among the first watershed events in which large numbers of Filipino students of the 1970s were radicalized against the Marcos administration. Due to these dispersals, many students who had previously held "moderate" positions (i.e., calling for legislative reforms) became convinced that they had no choice but to call for more radical social change.[6]

Similar watershed events would later include the February 1971 Diliman Commune; the August 1971 suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in the wake of the Plaza Miranda bombing; the September 1972 declaration of Martial Law; the 1980 murder of Macli-ing Dulag;[7] the August 1983 assassination of Ninoy Aquino; and eventually, allegations of cheating during the 1986 Snap Elections which led to the non-violent 1986 EDSA Revolution.[4]

  1. ^ Joaquin, Nick (1990). Manila, My Manila. Vera-Reyes, Inc.
  2. ^ Dacanay, Barbara Mae Naredo (February 24, 2020). "The 7 deadly protests of the First Quarter Storm". ABS CBN News and Public Affairs. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  3. ^ Dacanay, Barbara Mae Naredo (February 26, 2020). "50 years later, First Quarter Storm survivors recall those first three months of the 70s". ABS CBN News and Public Affairs. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "A History of the Philippine Political Protest". Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. Archived from the original on July 5, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  5. ^ Enriquez, Marge (December 14, 2013). "'The Half-Remembered Past'–Nelson Navarro's bittersweet memoir of activism and a biographer's life". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
  6. ^ Rodis, Rodel. "Remembering the First Quarter Storm". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on January 31, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  7. ^ Aureus, Leonor J., ed. (1985). The Philippine Press Under Siege II.