Enrile To Ramos: Are You With Me?

(Editor's note: The writer has covered the defense beat since 1974)

MANILA, Philippines - ''Eddie, the time has come. Are you with me?''

That question, put by Juan Ponce Enrile to Fidel Ramos on the phone, sealed the alliance that would challenge the armies of President Ferdinand Marcos in February 1986.

I was the night editor of the Philippines News Agency (PNA), the stateowned news agency, when the EDSA uprising broke out. Monitoring the events on television I was anticipating a bloodbath.

The breakaway military group of Enrile, the defense minister, and Ramos, the AFP Vice Chief of Staff, was entrenched in Camp Crame, ringed by the army of President Ferdinand Marcos. It was a terrible mismatch.

The battle lines were drawn along EDSA, but the no-man's land between the two forces was soon engulfed by a sea of humanity. People Power was born.

Many attribute the ''miracle'' on EDSA to divine intervention. They could be right, if you consider Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin's radio appeal for people to rush to EDSA to protect Enrile and Ramos' ragtag band from the thousands of troops and column of tanks that Marcos had sent to crush the uprising.

Several thousands rallied to Sin's call in the early evening of February 22. The crowd would balloon to two million in the next four days.

Flashback to the afternoon of February 22, when Col. Gregorio ''Gringo'' Honasan, Col. Eduardo Kapunan and Maj. Noe Wong arrived at Defense Minister Enrile's residence in Makati City. They informed Enrile of their impending arrest.

Enrile called Ramos to ask his support.

At his house in Alabang, Ramos had just received the news that Enrile was about to be arrested. Soon after, the phone rang. It was Enrile calling.

''Eddie (Ramos' nickname), the time has come. Are you with me?'' Enrile said.

Ramos had earlier promised Enrile that he and the entire Philippine Constabulary would back up the defense minister.

Ramos prepared to join Enrile who was in Camp Aguinaldo. He instructed his driver, M/Sgt. Abel Modequillo to take a circuitous route as a security measure. His convoy arrived at 6 p.m. in Camp Aguinaldo.

At a hastily called press conference at the Social Hall of the Ministry of National Defense, Enrile and Ramos jointly declared their breakaway from Marcos.

''Enough is enough, Mr. President,'' Enrile said.

Ramos declared he was casting his lot with Enrile. ''The reason for my being here is because the Armed Forces of the Philippines has ceased to be the real Armed Forces which is supposed to be the defender of public safety and enforcer of the law. What has developed under Marcos and Ver is an elite armed forces within the AFP that no longer represents the ranks and the officers' corps of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.''

By this time, Cardinal Sin had aired his appeal.

Butz Aquino, brother of slain Sen. Benigno S. Aquino Jr. arrived at Aguinaldo with his supporters in ATOM (August Twenty One Movement). He declared they were ready to protect Enrile and Ramos and the rest of the rebel soldiers ''with our bodies.''

At 9 o'clock that evening, Ramos transferred from Aguinaldo to the Constabulary headquarters in Camp Crame to consolidate his defensive position.

Just before midnight of February 22, Marcos appeared on TV, accusing Enrile of plotting a coup. Marcos warned Enrile and Ramos that he could annihilate them, together with the rebel forces and called on them to surrender to end ''this stupidity.''

Cut off for the first time from Ramos whom I have covered for many years, I relied on other sources for my news dispatches. I learned from one such source that the forces of Enrile and Ramos had prepared a contingency plan for any such attack.

They would defend Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame for a while after which they would disperse into small groups and launch a guerrilla warfare.

The crowd that gathered along EDSA stood their ground. Brig. Gen. Alfredo Lim, commander of the Northern Police District, defied an order from Marcos to disperse the crowd. Instead, he and his men defected to the Enrile-Ramos camps.

On the second day of the uprising, Sin continued his call for people power over ''Radyo Bandido'' with the help of broadcaster June Keithley.

On the second day, Ramos invited Enrile to join him at Camp Crame nearby. Enrile and the RAM boys joined Ramos at the PC headquarters that afternoon.

That morning, military rebels attacked the government TV station Channel 4 which was guarded by soldiers loyal to Marcos. The rebel soldiers overran the TV station after a brief gunfight.

I proceeded to Camp Crame where I saw the multitude gathered on EDSA.

A column of armored Landing Tank Vehicles (LTV) and Armored Personnel Carriers (APC) from the Philippine Marines, backed by other military vehicles under Brig. Gen. Artemio Tadiar arrived near the vicinity of Ortigas Avenue along EDSA.

The tanks threatened to mow people down under its massive metallic weight unless the crowd cleared the path leading to Camp Crame. But the crowd stood their ground. Steadfast in their faith, the people kneeled in the middle of EDSA, raised their rosaries, brandished their crucifixes, and lifted their voices in prayers that drowned the rumble of the idling armored vehicles.

Tadiar gave the order to withdraw to Fort Bonifacio. Another case of divine intervention? Prayers and faith averted what could have been a bloody battle.

On the second day of the uprising, more soldiers defected to the Enrile-Ramos camp, and on the third day, February 24, an unexpected turn of events: The 15th Strike Wing of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) led by Col. Antonio Sotelo joined the rebels.

Many of the crowd cried tears of joy thanking God and through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the patron saint of the Philippines, for answering their prayers at the time the country needed most.

On Day 3, two Sikorsky helicopter gunships fired rockets at Malacanang.

On February 25, the First Scout Ranger Brigade of Brig. Gen. Felix Brawner defected to the rebels. It was the last major fighting force of the Marcos regime.