Military history of the Philippines during the Marcos dictatorship

The military history of the Philippines during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, especially the 14-year period between Marcos' proclamation of Martial Law in September 1972 and his eventual ouster through the People Power Revolution of 1986, was characterized by rapid changes linked to Marcos' use of the military as his "martial law implementor".

During this time, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) units, particularly within the Philippine Constabulary, were noted to have engaged in various human rights abuses. Military camps throughout the country became the site of various detention camps for "political prisoners" which included any individual who spoke out against the Marcos regime, whether they were journalists, educators, religious workers, human rights advocates, academics, artists, or activists.

Officers were promoted and reshuffled, and top commanders were kept on past their retirement ages, based on their expressed allegiances with Ferdinand Marcos. This led to low morale among junior officers who were unable to get promotions in the AFP, and eventually led to the creation of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM).

When revelations of cheating during 1986 Philippine presidential election came out in February 1982, RAM forces under Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile attempted to stage a Coup against Marcos, but their plot failed when it was discovered by Marcos. They sought help from Philippine Constabulary chief Fidel V. Ramos who joined them, and when they were cornered in Camps Aguinaldo and Crame on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) from Roman Catholic Cardinal Jaime Sin. Sin called on private citizens, already planning protests connected to cheating during the elections, to help protect Enrile and Ramos' forces by forming a human barricade on the stretch of EDSA between the two camps. Marcos issued Military orders to attack Enrile and Ramos' forces while publicly pretending to issue contrary orders. AFP forces rejected the order and began defecting to the Enrile and Ramos faction instead.

Marcos eventually went into exile in Hawaii after the US administration of Ronald Reagan offered to fly him out of the country from Clark Airbase - marking the end of the Marcos dictatorship and bringing in a new administration under Corazon Aquino.