Philippines, 1987 — military coup attempt
Event Summary
From 27 to 29 January 1987 around one hundred soldiers led by Colonel Oscar Canlas mounted an armed coup attempt against President Corazon Aquino by seizing the main broadcast complex of the GMA Network in Quezon City, while other rebel troops tried in vain to capture the Sangley Point air force base in Cavite. The action was reportedly linked to a plan by the exiled Ferdinand Marcos to stage a dramatic return to the Philippines, and the Marcos loyalist and Reform the Armed Forces Movement elements behind it hoped to spark a wider military revolt against Aquino's not yet one year old government. The rebels held the broadcast station for two days but failed to attract the broad support they needed, and government forces loyal to Aquino contained and defeated the attempt.
One rebel soldier was killed and thirty five people were injured before the mutineers surrendered. Aquino survived this, the third attempt against her, but the recurring plots underscored the persistent instability of the post Marcos transition and the continuing threat from restive factions within the armed forces.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
84001271987- Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-840-1987-01-27
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Corazon Aquino defeated the January 1987 seizure of the GMA broadcast complex by Canlas's rebels.
Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
CSP
Wikipedia
Washington Post
Irish Times
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →