EDSA III (pronounced EDSA Tres) was a
protest sparked by the
arrest in April 2001 of newly deposed
President Joseph Estrada of the
Philippines. The protest was held for seven days in a major highway in Metropolitan Manila, the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue or
EDSA, which eventually culminated in an attempt to storm the
MalacaƱang presidential palace. Taking place four months after
EDSA Revolution of 2001, the protests were asserted as a more populist and representative uprising in comparison to the previous demonstrations in the same location, in January 2001. The protests and the attack on the presidential palace, however, failed in their objectives. Participants continue to claim that it was a genuine People Power event, a claim disputed by the participants and supporters of EDSA II. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has acknowledged the divisive nature of the two terminologies by saying in one statement that she hoped to be the president of "EDSA II and EDSA III."
Events
April 30
- See also EDSA Revolution of 2001
The crowd of an alleged several hundred thousand people (although according to
Iglesia ni Cristo-owned broadcast network
Net 25 and to Senator Sotto, a high of over 3 million in the evening of April 30), most of whom were members of the urban poor and devotees of the Iglesia ni Cristo which institutionally supported Estrada, gathered at the Roman Catholic
EDSA Shrine, the site of the January
EDSA II revolt which had toppled Estrada from the...
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