Post on 10-Apr-2018
8/8/2019 Mendiola Massacre
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mendiola-massacre 1/4
Mendiola massacre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Mendiola massacre
A peasant marcher crawls for cover as a companion lies
dead
LocationMendiola Street, San Miguel, Manila,
Philippines
DateJanuary 22, 1987
approximately 4:30 p.m. (UTC +8)
Target Demonstration
Attack type Shooting
Weapon(s) Small arms
Death(s) 13[1][2]
Injured74 (51 demonstrators, 23 state security
forces)[1][2]
8/8/2019 Mendiola Massacre
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mendiola-massacre 2/4
Perpetrator(s) Philippine state security forces
The Mendiola massacre, also called Black Thursday[3][4]
by some Filipino journalists, was an
incident that took place in Mendiola Street, San Miguel, Manila, Philippines on January 22,1987, in which state security forces violently dispersed a farmers' march on Malacañang Palace.Thirteen of the peasants were killed and many wounded when government anti-riot forces
opened fire on the marchers.
Contents
[hide]
y 1 Background
y 2 March on Malacañang
y 3 Aftermath y 4 See also
y 5 References
[edit] Background
By January 1987, the administration of Corazon C. Aquino had been in power less than a year after the People Power Revolution ousted Ferdinand E. Marcos as President of the Philippines.
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Filipino, "Peasants' Movement of the Philippines"), a
militant farmers' group led by Jaime Tadeo, demanded genuine agrarian reform from the Aquinogovernment.
On January 15, 1987, members of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas encamped at the
Ministry of Agrarian Reform (now the Department of Agrarian Reform) in Diliman, QuezonCity. The group presented their problems and demands, among of which was the distribution of
land to the farmers for free.[4] Dialogue between the farmers, represented by Jaime Tadeo, andthe government, represented by then Agrarian Reform minister Heherson Alvarez took place on
January 20, 1987, with Alvarez promising to bring the matter to the President's attention duringthe cabinet meeting to be held the next day.
The farmers barricaded the Ministry of Agrarian Reform offices and prevented its employeesfrom going inside the premises the day after. In discussions later that day, Alvarez advisedTadeo, suggesting that a negotiating panel be assembled the following day for further talks.
[edit] March on Malacañang
8/8/2019 Mendiola Massacre
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mendiola-massacre 3/4
On January 22, 1987, the farmers decided to march to Malacañang Palace in order to air their demands instead of negotiating with Heherson Alvarez. Marching from the Quezon City
Memorial Circle, Tadeo's group was joined by members of other militant groups: Kilusang MayoUno (May One Movement), Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance), League of
Filipino Students and Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralitang Lungsod (Unity Congress of the
Urban Poor). At 1:00 in the afternoon, the marchers reached Liwasang Bonifacio and held a brief program. At around the same time, anti-riot personnel under the command of Capital RegionalCommand commander Gen. Ramon Montaño, Task Force Nazareno under the command of Col.
Cesar Nazareno and police forces under the command of Western Police District Chief Brig.Gen. Alfredo Lim were deployed around the vicinity of Malacañang.
The first line of civil disturbance control units consisted of policemen from the Western Police
District. About ten yards behind the policemen were Integrated National Police Field Force units.The third line, a further ten yards from the second police line, consisted of a Philippine Marine
Corps unit, the Marine Civil Disturbance Control Battalion. Positioned behind the Marines werearmy trucks, water cannons, fire trucks and two Mobile Dispersal Teams equipped with tear gas
delivery gear.
The marchers numbered 10,000±15,000 by the time they reached Claro M. Recto Avenue. Theyclashed with the police, and the police lines were breached. At this point, gunshots were heard
and the marchers disengaged from the melee, retreating towards Claro M. Recto Avenue.Sporadic gunfire could be heard amidst the withdrawal. Alfredo Lim, now Mayor of Manila,
maintains that the Marines were responsible for the shooting.[5]
[edit] Aftermath
Twelve marchers were immediately confirmed dead; later sources would cite thirteen. Thirty-
nine had gunshot wounds and 12 sustained minor injuries. On the state security forces' side, threesustained gunshot wounds and 20 suffered minor injuries. President Corazon Aquino convened aspecial body chaired by former Supreme Court Justice Vicente Abad Santos, the Citizens¶
Mendiola Commission, to investigate the incident. The body recommended the prosecution of allcommissioned officers of the Western Police District and the Integrated National Police Field
Force who were armed at that time.
In protest over the massacre, the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Presidential Committee onHuman Rights, Jose Diokno and J.B.L. Reyes, resigned from the government.
[6]
In 1988, the Manila Regional Trial Court issued a decision to dismiss a P6.5-million class suit
filed by relatives of the victims.[7] This decision was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1993.[3]
In 2007, members of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas installed a granite marker at the
Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City, commemorating the 20th anniversary of theincident.
[1]