First of a series
THE color yellow was first associated with the late former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. when he returned to the Philippines in 1983.
For context, Aquino was among those arrested immediately after martial law was declared in the country in 1972. At the time of his arrest, Aquino was dining with his sister Lupita at a hotel restaurant in Manila. Aquino (and others) was later brought before the Military Commission 2 for the following criminal charges:
– Criminal Case MC-2-19 for illegal possession of firearms, ammunition, explosives and accessories.
– Criminal Cases MC-2-2, MC-2-21, MC-2-23 and MC-2-24 for violation of Republic Act 1700, or the Anti-Subversion Act of 1957.
– Criminal Case MC-2-22 for murder.
On Nov. 27, 1977, Ninoy and his two co-accused Bernabe Buscayno, also known as “Kumander Dante” of the New People’s Army, and military officer-turned-NPA rebel Victor Corpuz were sentenced to death by firing squad by the same Military Commission 2.
While incarcerated in March 1980, Aquino suffered a heart attack due to blocked arteries. Consequently, the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. allowed Ninoy to undergo a coronary bypass surgery in the United States in May 1980.
In the article “10 things you may not know about the EDSA Revolution,” J.C. Laquiores-Burgos wrote:
“The revolutionary yellow... was derived from the 1973 song ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree’ sung by American pop music group Dawn featuring Tony Orlando and written by Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown. Nearly reflecting Ninoy’s situation at that time, its lyrics talks about a prisoner of war asking his love (in his letter to her) to tie a yellow ribbon around the ‘ole oak tree’ to signify whether he is still welcome to return to her life. To his surprise, he does see a hundred yellow ribbons around the tree. But unlike the character in the song, Ninoy never saw how many yellow ribbons his supporters tied because he was assassinated even before he stepped on the airport tarmac.”
Sylvia Estrada-Claudio in an interview claimed that her aunts Eva (a pre-martial law senator), Nina and Guillermina, inspired by the song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree,” thought of tying yellow ribbons along Roxas Boulevard to welcome Ninoy Aquino back to the country on Aug. 21, 1983.
Ninoy’s widow, Corazon “Cory” Aquino, subsequently used the color yellow for her presidential run against Marcos Sr. during the snap elections of February 1986. Fr. Daniel Franklin Pilario, CM, president of Adamson University, wrote in 2025:
“... the [yellow] ribbon and the song became a rallying symbol of protest against the repression of Marcos’ martial rule until its demise during the first People Power Revolution in 1986...
Yellow was the color of EDSA. People wore yellow T-shirts, headbands or caps. Yellow confetti showered from tall Makati buildings during the rallies leading to the 1986 snap elections. The Reformed the Armed Forces Movement of Ramos and Enrile wore them as arm bands as distinguished from the Marcos loyalist forces who wore white armbands.
We wore yellow but we did not call ourselves “dilawan.” We just wanted to protest against the dictatorship. We just wanted Marcos out. When we shouted “Tama na. Sobra na. Palitan na,” we shouted while wearing yellow. Yellow was a color of resistance. It was not only about Cory or Ninoy but about what their lives symbolized — martyrdom, hope and love of country. It was also more against Marcos, against martial law, against repression — and all that he represented.”
Having lived through the latter part of the Marcos dictatorship, EDSA 1986 and onward, I can confirm Fr. Pilario’s words are a reflection of the sentiments of the Filipino people who once embraced the “yellow politics” of freedom from tyranny and dictatorship. It is also for this reason that Yellow politics is on an irreversible path of obsolescence.
Ironically, another Marcos — Ferdinand Jr. — is instrumental in the moral bankruptcy of Yellow politics.
This rapid fall from grace, nevertheless, begins with the shameless appropriation as personal property by the Aquino clan and their cohorts of Yellow politics, instead of being a shared national heritage. Sure, the Aquinos and their supporters drum up Yellow politics as a collective national inheritance when they are asking for votes during elections and when in need of public support for their partisan political agenda. However, the current application of Yellow politics is often blatantly inconsistent with the very principles of anti-dictatorship and anti-tyranny that gave birth to the original Yellow politics in the 1980s. The Aquinos and cohorts deny it vehemently, but the Filipino people see clear as day that they have shamelessly aligned themselves with the Bendalista interests and agenda of the Marcoses — of all people! The Marcoses and the current crop of Yellows are locked in an unholy alliance to derail Vice President Sara Duterte’s inevitable march to Malacañang in 2028.
Worse is the Yellows’ rabid support of Bendalista strategies and tactics in the ongoing impeachment case of Sara Duterte. Another piece — or several pieces probably — is needed to enumerate and illustrate the Yellow-endorsed Bendalo agenda in cooperation with the Marcoses and other self-interested parties in the impeachment process. For now, the most glaring example of this is the Senate vote to lower the voting threshold for the impeachment of the vice president, unabashedly twisting the 1987 Constitution Bendalo-style in an effort to assure a desired outcome in the trial that is favorable to their partisan political interests.
Born as people power opposed to tyranny and dictatorship, Yellow politics is now being steered toward wholesale partisan political and self-interested support of Bendalismo politics. What mother of all farces!
The Marcos dictatorship treating democracy as an afterthought created an opportunity for the Yellows to seize political leadership in the country through EDSA 1986. Now, the inheritors of yellow politics are front-and-center in pushing the final nail in the coffin of the 1987 Constitution — a glorious product of People Power during EDSA 1986 — and transforming it into a piece of paper used to wrap tinapa in the market.
Yellow politics has become Bendalista politics.
To be continued
