Coup Atlas Research Database
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84004121987ConspiracyMilitary coup

Philippines, 1987 — military coup conspiracy

Philippines (PHL)Southeast Asia, AsiaApril 12, 1987

Event Summary

This entry is coded 12 April 1987, during the sustained wave of military plotting against President Corazon Aquino of the Philippines, between the January 1987 GMA-7 seizure and the far larger August 1987 coup attempt. Discontent ran high among professional officers, many linked to the Reform the Armed Forces Movement and to supporters of the deposed Ferdinand Marcos, over Aquino's perceived leniency toward the communist insurgency and the presence of leftist officials in her cabinet. In this climate a series of coup attempts and armed actions unfolded through 1987: after rebel soldiers occupied the GMA-7 television station in late January, thirteen rebel soldiers staged a raid on Fort Bonifacio on Black Saturday, 18 April 1987, which was repelled within the morning with one rebel soldier killed.

The 12 April 1987 coding sits in this period of anti-Aquino conspiracy and RAM-linked military restiveness, close to the Black Saturday Fort Bonifacio raid, as the plotting built toward the bloody August 1987 attempt led by Gregorio Honasan.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Aquino survived the 1987 plots, including the major August coup attempt, and served out her term to 1992
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
President Corazon Aquino (target)
the Reform the Armed Forces Movement and Colonel Gregorio Honasan
Marcos-loyalist officers

Sources

On Black Saturday 1987, 18 April, thirteen rebel soldiers staged a raid on Fort Bonifacio that was repelled within the morning, with one rebel soldier dead.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: Coup attempts against Corazon Aquino open source ↗
Rebel soldiers who belonged to the Guardians Brotherhood occupied the GMA-7 television station for 61 hours in late January 1987 before surrendering, in the third attempt to overthrow Aquino and the first to produce a fatality.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: January 1987 Philippine coup attempt open source ↗
Aquino's reluctance to unleash the military against the communist insurgents generated deep resentment among many professional officers, who felt she was more interested in negotiating with the guerrillas than in defeating them.
SOURCE REVIEWED Time: The Philippines, The Coup That Failed open source ↗
The most serious attempt up to then to overthrow Aquino's government was launched on 28 August 1987 by members of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement led by Gregorio Honasan, leaving 53 dead.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: Coup attempts against Corazon Aquino open source ↗

Editorial Note

No discrete coup is precisely dated 12 Apr 1987 in the sources located this session; the located April 1987 event is the 18 Apr Black Saturday Fort Bonifacio raid. The coding sits in the 1987 anti-Aquino RAM-plotting climate between the January and August coup attempts. Context with strong framing. First Philippines record in the run.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
84004121987

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Aquino survived the 1987 plots, including the major August coup attempt, and served out her term to 1992.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. 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

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

Chicago Tribune

“Filipino Says Coup Thwarted,” April 14, 1987

Los Angeles Times

“Philippine Coup Plot Reportedly Foiled: Plan Involved Seizing School, Taking Foreign Students Hostage,” April 14, 1987

South China Sunday Morning Post

“Coup Foiled, Says Paper,” April 12, 1987

The Vancouver Sun

“Philippines Coup Foiled by Military,” April 13, 1987

The Windsor Star

“Philippine Coup Averted,” April 13, 1987

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 →

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