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Prologue: In August 1983, Senator Ninoy Aquino was assassinated after a three-year exile. In 1984, the Marcos government declared bankruptcy. As economic and security conditions worsened, Marcos suddenly called for a presidential election to be held in February 1986. Ninoy's widow Cory ran against him. The 7 February election was marred by violence and ballot tampering, and the government Commission on Elections declared Marcos the victor, while the National Movement for Free Elections, an accredited poll watcher, had Aquino winning. Things came to a head when Johnny Enrile, Minister of Defense, and LTG Eddie Ramos, Vice Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) publicly accused Marcos of cheating, and announced their support for Aquino. The following account is from an ACCTS staff member who was stationed in Manila at this time.
Saturday - 2/22/86: About 7:00 PM, Radio Veritas, the Catholic "free" radio station, and the only radio/TV station not controlled by Marcos, announced the defections of Minister Enrile and General Ramos. They had gone to ground In the Phillppine Constabulary (PC) headquarters, Camp Crame (Ramos was head of the PC), and Camp Aguinaldo, the general headquarters of the AFP, as well as the Ministry of National Defense and other major commands. The two Installations are separated by Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA), an eight-lane highway.
In response to calls for support and an outpouring of anti-Marcos sentiment, Filipinos began to congregate at the gates of the two camps in numbers that soon blocked the road. At 10:00 PM, Marcos went on TV too announce that he was in "complete control and withholding his troops as a humanitarian gesture, that he couldn't understand such disloyalty, and that there had been an aborted coup at the palace." He portrayed himself as the rightful president and unable to believe that Ramos and Enrile were Involved In the coup (while clearly Implying that they were). He even produced a hapless palace guard (an obvious scapegoat) who confessed to plotting the coup (In return for pesos and promises of future favors) to divert attention from the defections.
Sunday - 2/23/86: During the night, Marcos goons bombed Radio Veritas, forcing them to change to a less powerful standby transmitter. At this point, none of the Marcos media was covering the event. Around 1:00 PM, Marcos held a press conference in a staged portrait of control and solidarity. He persisted in his claim of legitimacy, denied any intention of stepping down or altering his inaugural plans for the 25th, and produced three more "conspirators" who soulfully "confessed" their complicity in the coup. Marcos repeated his pleas for calm, and emphasized his magnanimity in not bringing the "rebels" to task. He finished by boasting that Camps Crame and Aguinaldo were surrounded by AFP troops ready to strike. (With more than half the of the AFP and most of its operative equipment already in Ramos' camp, however, Marcos was desperately trying to buy time.) 
On EDSA, "people power" - over 500,000 by this time - created a human barricade augmented by a few "donated" buses and cars. When Marcos mounted his "offensive" - some Marines, a few armored personnel carriers and a couple of amphibious vehicles - they couldn't get through the crowd without shooting them, and so retired from the field of battle. The government-controlled media had still not acknowledged that anything was afoot, even as the church joined the rebellion, offering prayers at mass and in the streets. Radio Veritas, despite their weaker transmitter, continued to call for greater "people power," more prayers, and citizen reports on Marcos troop movements. Around 10:00 PM, Marcos angrily denounced the "rebels," claiming that Enrile and Ramos were trying to seize power.
Monday - 2/24/86: About 5:30 AM, a local FM station began carrying Radio Veritas, with a blow-by-blow account of Marcos' marines tear-gassing a human barricade at the rear gate of Camp Aguinaldo. The Marines, however, either gave up or ran out of tear gas, and joined the rebels. God was making His presence known!
Channel 4, the notoriously pro-Marcos government station, signed on at 7:00 as though nothing had happened. At 8:00 General Ver, the AFP Chief of Staff, gave an Interview to scotch rumors of Marcos' flight, while channel 7, mildly sympathetic to Marcos, ran a bulletin reporting his departure. At 9:00, just as channel 4 was announcing that Marcos would hold another press conference, the station went off the air. It was later learned that rebel troops had stormed the facility and pulled the plug. About 10:00, Marcos appeared on the other channels, insisting that he had the situation under control. When he started taking questions, it became immediately apparent that he was still in the palace, although a French correspondent noted that he could see none of the rebel forces with which Marcos had just said he was surrounded. Meanwhile, Gen Ver and other loyalists "reported in." A classic bit of comic relief followed, as Marcos authorized Ver to use of small arms as needed, Ver blustered about using heavier weapons for "self defense," Marcos droned on about avoiding bloodshed, and Ver became increasingly apoplectic. Somewhat flustered by Ver, who stormed out to "strategize," as well as increasingly pointed questions from the press, Marcos then declared a state of emergency, and directed the media to quit broadcasting troop movements.
Radio Veritas quickly confirmed that Marcos was still in Manila, and called for more "people power" and prayer. About 2:00, Channel 4 was back on the air with rebel announcers, including June Keithley, who had initiated the call for "people power" on EDSA from Radio Veritas. The "New Channel 4" remained on the air without interruption, and in view of the grotesquely distorted coverage it had provided during the election, it became a powerful symbol of the entire struggle.
Tuesday - 2/25/86: Around 4:00 AM there were reports of new defections, including 770 Philippine military cadets, the 5th fighter wing (F-5s) and the 15th strike wing, whose S-76 helicopter gunships had been sent to attack Camp Crame the previous morning, but instead defected, to be greeted in Christian fellowship. During a "New Channel 4" interview with Aquino, she appealed for calm, asked for "people power" to continue their vigil, and requested prayers for unification.
At 10:45, Cory Aquino was quietly sworn in at the Green Hills Shopping Center. At 12:00, the pro-Marcos channels began coverage of the Marcos Inaugural, with shots of a small crowd in a small room waving lots of flags to look like a big crowd in a big room. Just as the MC started the ceremony, however, someone pulled the plug on the video feed, leaving the commentators speechless. All three channels then cut to old movies, and soon went off the air for good. Meanwhile, "New Channel 4" aired video of the Aquino Inaugural, and her vice-president Doy Laurel gave a moving speech hailing the courageous Filipino people, and acknowledging the power of prayer in the revolution. Aquino then led the crowd in singing the Lord's Prayer to close the ceremony.
At 10:30 PM, the courageous reporter June Keithley announced with pride on "New Channel 4" that Marcos and his cronies had been evacuated to Clark AFB, for further transportation to an unknown destination (which proved to be Hawaii).
Wednesday - 2/26/86: Early to TV coverage on "New Channel 4" reported that the crowds which stormed the palace when Marcos left were mostly curious - for twenty years the palace had symbolized his dictatorship. It was clearly the end of a nightmare for them, and the beginning of a new chapter In Philippine history. The power of the people in prayer had been demonstrated in a marvelous way, and their votes for Aquino in the election had been vindicated. The fervent prayers of a faithful people had resulted in the overthrow of a dictator. "Mabuhay ang Kalaayan" (Welcome Freedom) became the rallying cry for the new Government of the Philippines.
Epilogue: February 2016 marked the 30th anniversary of this manifestation of God's power through praying people in the Philippines. Although the world media hailed "people power" as the agent of change in overthrowing the dictatorship, those of us on scene knew that God was answering the prayers of millions of oppressed Filipinos. General Ramos later told us that his greatest doubt occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning, when it appeared that Marcos was rallying his forces for an attack. A man of great faith, he opened his bible to Psalm 91:5, and upon reading "You will not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day," he knew that God was supporting his stand against tyranny. In March 2016, ACCTS staff participated in a Southeast Asia Conference of Military Ministries held in Manila. Pray that God is being glorified through the seeds planted at that gathering of believers.
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