'Cory was at EDSA'

SHE's known as the icon of Philippine democracy, but one of the criticisms against former President Cory Aquino is that she was nowhere in sight during the four-day People Power Revolution in February 1986.

On February 25, 1986, for the first time in the nation's history, the Philippines had two presidents: Corazon Aquino, widow of slain opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, took her oath at the Club Filipino; about an hour later, re-electionist Ferdinand Marcos took his oath in Malacanang amid allegations of widespread electoral fraud.

But before the day ended, Marcos was ousted in the bloodless revolution and flown to Hawaii. Cory became an EDSA hero.

‘DAKILANG WALA ROON'

But by 1990, fellow EDSA leader Sen.Juan Ponce Enrile criticized Cory, saying she was a "dakilang wala roon... she was not in EDSA."

LOOK: EDSA Evolution: Then and Now

Just as Filipinos from all walks of life were beginning to mass up at EDSA on the evening of February 22, 1986, Cory was in Cebu, safely hidden at the Carmelite convent.

But two people who were with her in Cebu during those tumultuous times said it was not as though she fled from danger.

Former Senator Aqulino "Nene" Pimentel, Jr. was a prominent opposition leader back then. Belinda Olivares-Cunanan was a news reporter of the Philippine Daily Inquirer assigned to cover Cory's presidential campaign.

Both said Cory went to EDSA soon after she was apprised of the situation.

Said Pimentel: "Pag-balik namin sa Maynila, sinamahan ko si Cory, nandun ako mismo, so ano pinagsasabi na wala sya duon? That’s not true. And (former Foreign Secretary) Bert Romulo is still alive, he was also with us."

Said Cunanan: " I went to EDSA at 4 pm and she was there. She was there exactly by the POEA [Philippine Overseas Employment Administration bldg] in front of what would be the shrine. Wala pang shrine nuon. But she was there."

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

Cory's trip to Cebu was planned long before anyone knew what was to unfold in EDSA, they said.

Cory arrived in Cebu on the morning of February 22 as part of a series of sorties across the country to promote civil disobedience against the despotic regime, with the end view of forcing Marcos to step down. Only a week earlier, she stood before a large crowd in Luneta to launch a program of active non-violence.

WITHDRAWAL OF SUPPORT

A large crowd also turned up at Cory's rally in Fuente Osmena, Cebu, said Cunanan.

Upon returning to the hotel after a long day, Cunanan received word from newsman Mike Suarez of The Associated Press that Enrile, then defense minister, and AFP Vice Chief of Staff Fidel Ramos had withdrawn their support for Marcos.

WATCH: 30 years ago today: Enrile, Ramos withdraw support for Marcos

Cunanan rushed to the home of businessman Norberto Quisumbing, where Cory was to spend the night.

"That’s my claim to fame," Cunanan said. "I was the one who first told her about it. It didn’t sink into her right away."

While events unraveled in Manila, opposition leaders joined Cory at the Quisumbing home in Cebu to map out a plan. Among those who joined her were Pimentel, Ramon Mitra, John Osmena, Homobono Adaza, Antonio Cuenco, Raul del Mar, and Peping Cojuangco.

"We had no idea how Marcos would react at the time (on Enrile's defection)," Pimentel said. "For all we know, things might turn violent."

Cory had to be protected, he said. "Tony Cuenco, a local opposition leader, was tasked to find some place safe for Cory."

HOUSE PARTY

Convinced that Cory's life was in danger, a house party was thrown at Quisumbing's home to make outsiders believe that Cory was still there.

"We drank wine at the balcony of the house," recalled Cunanan. "I don’t even know if anyone tried to dance but we were pretending (to enjoy the party)." In truth, Cunanan said, a car had left the party at about 10 pm that took Cory and four others to the Carmelite Convent where they spent the night.

At about 11 pm, Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin went on Radio Veritas calling on the people to support and protect Enrile and Ramos from Marcos' loyal soldiers. An estimated 5,000 people went to Camp Aguinaldo in the next few hours, bringing food, and into the night, the crowd got thicker, some of them holding flowers, rosary beads, and images of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

SMALL PLANE TO MANILA

In Cebu, Cory echoed Sin's call the next day, February 23, in a hastily called press conference. And then she hurriedly left Cebu and returned to Manila on board a private plane owned by the Ayala family.

"She decided, 'balik na tayo sa Maynila because that’s where the people are, rising against Marcos, and I want to be with them,'" Pimentel said, quoting the widow.

"It was a four-seater plane, and as it took off, we all prayed and said, bless her, because anything could happen," Cunanan said.

A MEGAPHONE AND A QUICK SPEECH

Back in Manila, Cory proceeded to the house of her sister Josephine Cojuangco-Reyes in Wack Wack in Mandaluyong, less than a kilometer away from EDSA. Together with opposition leaders and family members, they marched to the POEA, at the corner of EDSA and Ortigas Avenue.

"The decision to go to EDSA-POEA was impromptu," said Cory's nephew Rafael Lopa, who was with her at the time.

"We didn't have time to set up a stage nor a sound system," Lopa said. "She just stood on an elevated area and someone handed her a megaphone."

She addressed the crowd, then left.

"Cory wanted to stay at EDSA longer," Pimentel said. "But I told her: 'Look, hindi maganda yun, dahil I was thinking of the snipers."

'SELFIES' NOT IN VOGUE BACK THEN

Not a single photo or video of Cory has ever surfaced in the last 30 years to prove that she was anywhere near EDSA.

But for people who witnessed history unfolding, what's more important is that Filipinos recognize the role Cory played in the EDSA revolution.

"She was the rallying point to show that the nation was fed up with Marcos," Pimentel said. "She put a face to the revolution."

From the founding of the secessionist Moro National Liberation Front and the Communist Party of the Philippines to the First Quarter Storm, from reports of human rights abuses to alleged corruption, from the assassination of Ninoy and other opposition leaders to electoral fraud, Marcos's critics then believed that it was only a matter of time before the strongman would be ousted.

Without Cory, Pimentel and Cunanan said, the change in administration might not have been peaceful.

And if only for that, they said, Cory deserves a special place in history.